
Gass Lt'ofcHfS 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/lettersfromhofwyOObarw 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL 

BY A PARENT, 

ON 

THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 



DE EELLENBEKG, 




vnvM 



&n <BL$$ztfiiif, 



CONTAINING WOODBRIDGE'S SKETCHES OF HOFWYL, 

REPRINTED FROM THE ANNALS OF EDUCATION. 



LONDON: 



LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, 
PATERNOSTER-ROW. 

1842. 







London : 

Printed by A. SroTTiswooDEj 

New-Street-Square. 






PREFACE. 



I am aware that these Letters will add 
nothing to the capital of thought already 
circulating in the educational world ; yet 
when I remember how anxiously I myself 
sought for such details as are here given, 
I cannot but hope that this record of my 
observations upon Hofwyl will not be va- 
lueless to other Parents under similar cir- 
cumstances. Though I have not attempted 
to establish any theory, some reflections 
are naturally interwoven with my narra- 
tive ; and if the reader should have seen 
the same ideas better expressed elsewhere, 
I shall be satisfied with having recalled to 
his mind an authority superior to my own. 

THE AUTHOR. 



a <2 



CONTENTS. 



LETTER I. 



Educational difficulties and experience. Home education. 
Public schools. Hofwyl - - Page 1 

LETTER II. 

De Fellenberg. Annals of education. Account of Hofwyl. 
Lord Brougham and the Edinburgh Review. Agri- 
cultural school. Academy. Experimental farm. Sketch 
of the system of instruction. Characters of preceptors 
and pupils. Letter of De Fellenberg. Education in 
arrear of modern civilisation. Responsibility of educa- 
tors. Direction of the youthful faculties and dispositions. 
Investigation into individual character. Cultivation of 
the conscience and the understanding. Physical ex- 
ercise. Cultivation of the eye, the ear, the memory, and 
the taste. Social life. Ancient and modern languages. 
Mathematics, history, the Scriptures. Education founded 
upon the Gospel 9 

LETTER III. 

Pecuniary speculation. Economical details. Misrepre- 
sentation. Profits of the farm, surplus applied to ex- 
tension of the system. Inhabitants of Hofwyl. Se- 
paration from children. Parental affection. Maternal 
influence. Foreign education. Early letters. Christmas 
festivities - - 27 

LETTER IV. 

Journey. Childish impressions. German students. Ap- 
proach to Hofwyl. Anticipations. Meeting. M. de 
A 3 



VI CONTENTS. 

Felenberg. The man and the cause. Biographical 
sketch. Effects of early impressions. Maternal affec- 
tion. Patriotism. Acquaintance with the state of the 
people. French invasion. De Fellenberg proscribed. 
Mission to Paris. Political intrigue. Education, the 
amelioration of national evils. Formation of a model 
institution. Value of a religious education Page 37 

LETTER V. 

The first evening. The first morning. Occupations. 
Willing industry. Liberty of the pupil. Situation of 
Hofwyl. Grande Maison. Chateau. Play-ground. 
Fountains. Rural school. Intermediate school. Garden 
house. Manege. Gardens. Bath. Bosquet. Cl The 
hope of their " country - - - 62 

LETTER VI. 

Grande Maison. Dining and music rooms. Chapel. 
Salon. Class rooms. Casts. Dormitories. Hospital. 
Attention to health. Kitchen and cellars. Domestics. 
Music. M. de Vericceur's Report a TAcademie Agri- 
cole, &c. - - 74 

LETTER VII. 

Moral influence. Development of character. Exclusion 
of evil. Regularity of occupation. Influence of the 
educator. Unfounded reports. Judicious restraints and 
real freedom. Personal influence. Punishment. Even- 
ing retrospect. Political discontents. Indifference to 
just authority. Want of submission. De Fellenberg's 
letter to the editor of the American Annals of Education. 
Misapprehension of the character of the educator. 
Original design. Character of the pupil previous to 
admission. Co-operation of parents. General superin- 
tendence 83 



CONTENTS. 



LETTER VIII. 



Sunday at Hofwyl. Protestant and Catholic services. 
Dinner. Temperance. Occupation. Employment of 
the Sabbath. Music. Monthly concert Page 110 

LETTER IX. 

Routine of instruction. Plans of Lessons. Greek. Latin. 
Arrangement of occupation. Regularity. Recreations. 
Cabinet work. Number of Masters. Alternation of 
employments. Emulation. List of books used in the 
institution. Sketch of the system of classical instruc- 
tion 123 

LETTER X. 

Hofwyl revisited. Family concert. National prejudices. 
Gymnastics. Hausrath. Courtesy. Discipline. Re- 
spect for property. Effects of a union of all classes. 
Professor Scheidler's observations - 1 55 

LETTER XI. 

Alarm of fire. Engine at work. Workshops. Dairy. 
Dress. Pocket money. Unusual event. Military ex- 
ercise. Schoolboy treasures. Domestic influences. 
Maternal care - - - - 168 

LETTER XII. 

Assaut d'armes. Unity of feeling. August tour. Holy- 
days. M. Eugene de Caffarelli. Revue du Progres 
Politique, Social, et Litteraire. All education elementary. 
Elevation of character. Pecuniary speculation. Ap- 
plication of wealth and benevolence in England. Dr. 
Kay and Mr. Tuffnell's report. Hofwyl a model in- 
stitution. Second Reformation - - 179 

LETTER XIII. 

Middle school. National spirit. Lesson plans. Utility 
of the course. Its adaptation to English pupils. House- 



VUl CONTENTS. 

hold arrangements. Occupations. Intercourse between 
the pupils of the High and Middle Schools. Evening 
retrospect. New Agricultural establishment at the 
Ruti - - Page 194 

LETTER XIV. 

Hostility of the government. Party spirit. Christian 
character of the education. Gradual inculcation of reli- 
gious knowledge. Spirit of teachers. Wehrli. Eden- 
hard. Normal school. Annual meeting of school 
teachers. Prohibition of the Bernese government. 
Gratitude of teachers. Cantonal teachers' society. Em- 
peror Alexander of Russia. Industrial schools. Ex- 
ample offered by Hofwyl, its Founder and his family. 
Conclusion - 205 



APPENDIX. 

Letter I. — Progress of education in Germany and 

Switzerland - 225 

LetterII. — Gradual progress of the institution - 233 
Letter III. — Fundamental principles of education 234 
Letter IV. — Gradual development of children - 238 
Letter V. — Physical education - - 242 

Letter VI Exercise. Distribution of time - 244 

Letter VII. — Influence of physical education on 

the mind and character - - - 247 

Letter VIII. — Moral education of Hofwyl. Ex- 
ternal means. Exclusion of sources of corruption. 
Unity of action - 250 

Letter IX. — Good examples. Influence of pupils 
on each other. Public opinion. Government by 
pupils - 254 

Letter X. — Vigilance employed - 255 

Letter XI. — Liberty of the pupils. Trials. Fes- 
tivals of Hofwyl - - - - 260 
Letter XII. — Punishments * - - 264 



CONTENTS. IX 

Page 

Letter XIII. — Rewards. Emulation. Motives 
presented - 26*7 

Letter XIV. — Religious education. First steps of 
Moral instruction. Use of the Bible - - 270 

Letter XV. — Religious education - - 275 

Letter XVI. — Intellectual education. The prin- 
ciples by which the pupil is to be guided in the 
acquisition of knowledge - 279 

Letter XVII. — The pleasure of intellectual effort 
and the love of knowledge powerful stimulants to 
exertion _____ 288 

Letter XVIII. — Object of intellectual education. 
Mode of Studying 287 

Letter XIX. — Perception. First steps in its cul- / 
tivation. Observation of objects. Description and $ 
delineation. Geography. Design. Music - 288 

Letter XX. — Memory. Its importance. Mode 
of cultivating. Evils of inaccurate recollection. 
Memory of words. Accuracy in repetition - 292 

Letter XXI. — Modes of cultivating the judgment. 
Reason. Subserviency of the study of languages 
to its development. Importance of mathematical 
studies to all. Of physical science. Of history. 
Of moral science. Logic . - - - 294 

Letter XXII. — Mode of pursuing mathematical 
science. Form, magnitude, and number. Me- 
thods of instruction. Practical direction of mathe- 
matical studies. Dangers attending them. Self- 
confidence. Imperfect views of moral reasoning 
produced. Alternation with moral science. Im- 
portance of a well-balanced mind - - 297 

Letter XXIII. — Abuse of taste. Change at the 
Reformation. Inconsistency. Objects of taste 
provided by the Creator. Moral use of taste. 
Caution in cultivating it. Motives for cultivating 
and displaying taste. Its influence in producing 
happiness - - 299 

Letter XXIV. — Method of cultivating imagination 
and taste. Observation of nature. Objects of 



X CONTENTS. 

Page 
Art. Works of imagination. Rhetoric. Scenery 
of Switzerland. Buildings and grounds of Hofwyl. 
Design and music, Concerts. Gymnastic exercises. 
Declamation - - 302 

Letter XXV. — Course of natural history _ _ 304 

Letter XXVI. — Principles and arrangements for 
the Agricultural or Rural School for the poor. In- 
fluence of agriculture in education. Influence on 
the body. Effects of a city education on the mind 
and on the moral sentiments. Of an agricultural 
education. Special importance of agricultural 
education to the poor in reference to health, to 
intellectual and moral development - - 314 

Letter XXVII. — Different views of agriculture. 
Its reference to geometry, arithmetic, natural phi- 
losophy, natural history, to moral cultivation. In- 
fluence of the improved system of agriculture on 
the mind — on the habits - - - 317 

Letter XXVIII. — Daily course in the Rural 
School - 320 

Letter XXIX. — Internal arrangements of the Agri- 
cultural School - 323 

Letter XXX. — Discipline of the Agricultural 
School - - - - - 327 

Letter XXXI. — Principles to be observed in 
founding a Rural School - 329 

Letter XXXII. — Intellectual education. Elements 
of form, magnitude, and number. Observation 
and attention. Natural history of these pursuits. 
Reading and writing. Delineation. Use of the 
eye, geometry, and arithmetic. Physical education. 
Gymnastic sports. Moral and religious education. 
Music __-.-.- 332 

Letter XXXI II. — Combination of institutions at 
Hofwyl. Market for produce. Exhibition to the 
wealthy of an improved system of agriculture. 
Example of patient labour. Respect for the poor 
inspired in the rich. Means of wealth furnished. 
Agricultural School furnishes educators. Ad van- 



CONTENTS. 



Pase 



tages to the labouring pupils of apparatus and in- 
struction. Leads to a more correct estimate of 
wealth and luxury - 336 

Letter XXXIV. — School for poor girls. Design of 
the school. Intellectual education. Language. 
Arithmetic. Elements of form. Natural history. 
Singing. Moral education. Domestic and physical 
education. Domestic occupations and agricultural 
labours. Division of the day. Concluding re- 
marks - 339 

Letter XXXV. — Report of the commissioners ap- 
pointed to examine the Agricultural School at 
Hofwyl - - - - 342 

Letter XXXVI. — School colony at Meykirch - 347 

Sketch of the Normal course of instruction in 

1834 - - 351 

Berne Society of Teachers - 360 

Intermediate or practical institution - - 366 



ERRATUM, 

Page 1. line 4, for " its " read " their." 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL, 

&c. &c. 



LETTER I. 



It is somewhat singular that the very causes, 
namely, the interests of our children, which oc- 
casioned us to drop our earlier communications, 
should have brought about its renewal. I need 
hardly remind you that we mutually agreed to 
give up letter-writing, because we found it occu- 
pied time which was demanded by other duties, 
and pleasures — the care of our young children, — 
and we now desire to resume our correspondence, in 
the belief that we have each gained experience in 
education which may aiFord us mutual advantage. 
You tell me, that by means of a good governess, 
aided by masters, the education of your girls has 
proceeded to your satisfaction. With respect to 
the boys, you now begin to feel some perplexity ; 
and you turn to me, who am surrounded by sons, 
to ask for counsel. Your many questions may 

B 



2 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

be thus resolved : Shall we continue to educate 
them at home ? or shall we send them to school ? 
I can best reply by giving you a slight sketch of 
our own difficulties, our disappointments, successes, 
and failures, our past and present position ; and 
from these you shall draw your own conclusions. 

I need not dwell upon the many hours passed, 
during the infancy of our children, by their father 
and myself, in discussing the best plans of edu- 
cation, in reading treatises, and in consulting 
persons whom we deemed competent to give an 
opinion. You appear to have followed the same 
course, like most parents who reflect upon the 
importance of early training. Unfortunately, 
however, fathers and mothers are usually content 
to pursue one general system; perhaps, because no 
other alternative has been offered to them; namely, 
to send their children at an early age to a school 
which is thought desirable from its nearness to 
their residence, its cheapness, or for the reputation 
of its scholars for mental attainments or aris- 
tocratic connections; or again, for no better reason 
than because their sons must be sent to the schools 
which from long-established custom appear to 
appertain to certain classes. The same motives, 
variously modified, prevail until the time when 
education is supposed to be completed. " Instruc- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 3 

tion in the various branches," as the advertise- 
ments have it, is presumed to be given, and pre- 
sumed to be received. But this we did not 
consider to be education. I will not, however, 
occupy our time in condemning our neighbours, 
but will only further observe here, that as in 
commerce the best commodity is not supplied to 
the purchaser until he understands its real worth, 
and knows what constitutes its excellence, so in 
education the prevailing ignorance of its true 
nature receives a counterfeit, instead of the reality. 
But the light is breaking in both upon parents 
and educators : they begin to find that the modes 
of education hitherto adopted are not effectual 
preparations for life; and when they are more 
universally convinced of this, they will be content 
with nothing short of the reality. In this par- 
ticular some other European nations have left 
our own country behind. By them education 
is acknowledged and studied as a science ; and the 
term pedagogic, for which we have no synonym, 
is a proof of their comparative advance. In 
England education is less distinctly considered : 
its fixed and certain principles, founded upon the 
nature of man, and on the connection of his present 
and future state, are unknown to us ; and we do 
not perceive the necessity for making it a study, 
b 2 



4 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

theoretically and practically, before it can be made 
a profession. 

But to return to ourselves. We came to the 
conclusion, that it was our first duty to preserve 
in our children the comparative purity of child- 
hood, to shield them from evil influences, to foster 
in them the domestic affections, to study and 
watch over their individual character: we believed 
home to be the safest spot for the cultivation we 
desired, and that we ourselves should be the most 
successful labourers, because the most loving and 
earnest. We did not foresee, that while we were 
educating our children, we were ourselves receiving 
an education in some degree, at their expense : we 
had no experience to guide us ; we had studied, 
but not practised the art. There were also other 
difficulties, arising from external circumstances. 
The duties of business, of social life, domestic 
cares and household economy could not be aban- 
doned ; attention to these needful concerns in- 
terfered with the regularity so important in 
education ; and as the children advanced in years 
and activity, the evils arising from interruption 
became apparent in their direct influence on in- 
struction, and their indirect effects on the 
character both of teacher and pupil ; since they 
disturbed the equanimity which is indispensable 
in the former, and in the latter broke the habit 



LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 5 

of stated and regular attention. We had secured 
the aid of masters for some portions of the work, 
and we at length engaged a private tutor, hoping 
by this means to combine the advantages of our 
own superintendence with greater regularity. 
The error, here, was in expecting any one in- 
dividual to combine the various information 
required, or to bear the continual watchfulness 
and the constant occupation. 

There were also other bad effects of a home 
education, which we did not discover till a later 
period. Children derive many advantages from a 
free communication with older minds ; there are 
also disadvantages: their general intelligence is 
cultivated, but they are introduced to subjects 
for which they are not prepared: topics are dis- 
cussed before them of sufficient interest to attract 
attention, but too comprehensive to be grappled 
by young and inexperienced intellects. They 
take up imperfect notions, and form unjust and 
erroneous conclusions, difficult to detect and to 
overcome. I have discovered the most singular 
mistakes in my children, which I have traced to 
conversations or arguments carried on in their 
presence. Besides these inconveniences, they 
imbibe a taste for discussion, for hearsay ; they 
take in with the ears, not with the mind ; and 
b 3 



6 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

take hold of the appearance of truth, rather than 
of truth itself. 

Notwithstanding so many discouraging cir- 
cumstances, there was still much cause for satis- 
faction : we had secured many of the results we 
had promised to ourselves in the outset ; but it 
was quite evident that something more was needed 
to fit our eldest lads for their future career. We 
did not desire for them the experience which is 
spoken of as best attained in public schools — an 
experience which, I fear, is but too often an early 
initiation into vice.* The worldly wisdom that 

* The observations of the Rev. Sidney Smith (in his " Remarks 
on Public Schools," originally published in the " Edinburgh Re- 
view," in 1810, and reprinted in the new edition of his works,) 
strongly corroborate this remark. His long experience, together 
with his reputation in the literary world, give great weight to 
his opinions : " It is contended by the friends to public schools, 
that every person before he comes to man's estate must run 
through a certain career of dissipation ; and that if that career 
is, by the means of a private education, deferred to a more 
advanced period of life, it will only be begun with greater 
eagerness, and pursued into more blameable excess. The time 
must, of course, come when every man must be his own master, 
when his conduct can be no longer regulated by the watchful 
superintendence of another, but must be guided by his own dis- 
cretion. Emancipation must come at last ; and we admit that 
the object to be aimed at, is that such emancipation should be 
gradual, and not premature. If the licence which prevails at 
public schools is only a fair increase of liberty, proportionate to 
advancing age, and calculated to prevent the bad effects of a 
sudden transition from tutelary thraldom to perfect self-govern- 



LETTEES FEOM EOFWYL. 7 

is purchased at the expense of innocence has a 
very questionable value : if it decide in favour of 
virtue, the decision results from a calculation as 
to the " better policy," the prudence of morality, 
rather than from the hiunble, yet hopeful aspira- 
tions which especially distinguish the Christian 
character. We did not undervalue the salutary 
influence •which belongs to the association of 
minds of the same age. Indeed, we believed 
them to be necessary in the formation of cha- 
racter ; but we felt that they must be regulated 
and superintended by persons having a deep 
sense of the importance of purity of heart. 
"We desired to find an education which should 
unite the advantages of numbers with the spirit 
which sanctifies every virtuous home. Neither 
did we approve the exclusive studies given in 
our schools. A purely classical education is ob- 
viously insufficient in the present state of society. 
The modem languages, an acquaintance with the 



ment, it is certainly a good rather than an evil. If, on the contrary, 
there exists in these places of education a system of premature 
dehauchery, and if they only prevent men from heing corrupted 
by the world, by corrupting them before their entry into the 
world, they are then only to be looked upon as evils of the 
greatest magnitude, however they may be sanctioned by opinion 
or rendered familiar by habit." 

B 4 



8 LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 

laws of nature, an initiation into those sciences 
the principles and practice of which now mingle 
so intimately with our daily life, have become 
essential in education. A more general cultivation 
of the faculties with which we are gifted adds to 
our happiness as well as our usefulness. I do not 
undervalue classical attainments, but they are 
evidently not the one thing needful. We had a 
definite notion of what we desired to obtain, and 
had occasional glimpses of parts of our object in 
many of the schools in England ; but we failed to 
discover the whole ; and we begun to conclude we 
must bend to circumstances we could not con- 
trol, when a friend directed our attention to the 
institution at Hofwyl in Switzerland. In my 
next letter I will give you the information we 
obtained regarding that establishment. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 



LETTER II. 

The friend who directed our attention to 
Hofwyl was personally acquainted with the in- 
stitution and its founder, M. de Fellenberg, and 
had known intimately several of the pupils, both 
during the progress of their education and after 
it had been completed. The testimony we thus 
obtained was undoubted and satisfactory. We 
also visited the parents of a pupil, wholly un- 
known to our friend, who confirmed in every 
respect the favourable impressions we had re- 
ceived. The most complete information upon 
the nature of the institution we derived from a 
series of letters published in an American perio- 
dical, entitled " Annals of Education." These 
letters, or sketches of Hofwyl, were written by 
the Rev. C. Woodbridge, of the Episcopal church, 
the editor of the journal, and who, during two 
years, minutely investigated the system of education, 
both in its principles and practice. The obser- 
vations are scattered through two or more large 
volumes of a work but little known in England : 
they are interesting, not only on account of the 
subject to which they immediately refer, but as 
B 5 



10 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

illustrating the general principles of an enlightened 
education : they are too long to transcribe at the 
present moment, but as the work containing them 
is difficult to procure in England, I will now 
content myself with promising you a sight of 
them.* 

The 31st and 32nd volumes of the " Edinburgh 
Review," published in 1817 and 1818, contain an 
account of Hofwyl, the first notice of the insti- 
tution which appeared in this country. This was 
called forth by Lord (then Mr.) Brougham's ac- 
count of the establishment given in his evidence 
before the Education Committee. He had resided at 
Hofwyl for several weeks, for the purpose of ex- 
amining the working of the institution ; but he 
allowed that a residence of five or six months was 
necessary to understand all the details. Mr. 
Brougham's comprehensive understanding readily 
seized upon the main objects of the institution ; and 
his account, though short, was sufficiently lumi- 
nous and interesting to draw attention to the sub- 
ject: it was followed by two articles in the 
" Edinburgh Review," the second being headed by 
the titles of fifteen pamphlets, in French and Ger- 
man, devoted to the subject of the establishment 

* The sketches of Hofwyl are given in the Appendix. 



LETTEKS FKOM HOFWYL. 11 

at Hofwyl. It is now more than forty years 
since the commencement of an institution Avhich 
has during that time engaged the attention of 
legislators and philanthropists of all countries. The 
department for the education of the poorest classes 
has more particularly occupied attention; but 
while the institution must always be considered 
as a great whole, yet at the time we were seeking 
for information, the high school was the imme- 
diate subject of our consideration. At the time 
Lord Brougham visited Hofwyl there were, and 
there had been, no English pupils; since that 
period many English boys have been educated 
there. M. de Fellenberg not only permitted, but 
invited the most rigid examination ; and his ac- 
counts were open to investigation. It may in- 
terest you to see the following extract from the 
" Edinburgh Review," founded, as it is, upon Lord 
Brougham's account, and to compare this state- 
ment, made in 1818, with those which furnish the 
present state of the institution : — 

" Mr. Fellenberg is the head of a most respect- 
able patrician family of the canton of Berne ; and 
possesses, about four miles from the city, an here- 
ditary estate,* sufficiently large for one of his 

* This is not Hofwyl, -which he bought, as is afterwards 
stated. 

B 6 



12 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

station in that simple and frugal country, though 
trifling indeed, if compared either with the do- 
mains of nobles in wealthier states, or with the 
great things which he has effected by the judicious 
disposition of it. His income is said not to exceed 
five hundred a year, were the property managed 
in the usual way. The land forms part of a 
beautiful plain, surrounded by hills, and inter- 
spersed with woods. The house and pleasure- 
grounds are agreeably situated in the middle of 
the farm. Being naturally of a retired and con- 
templative disposition, fond of study, and pecu- 
liarly attached to agricultural pursuits, he early in 
life devoted himself to the praiseworthy objects 
of improving his estate by his own industry, and 
of making this occupation subservient to the im- 
provement of the poor in his neighbourhood. It 
is above twenty years since he first formed the 
plan, which in its completest execution now as- 
tonishes all who visit Hofwyl ; but it has not 
been in full action more than ten. The principal 
part of the establishment, and that which forms 
the groundwork of the whole, is a farm of about 
220 acres, which M. Fellenberg has improved with 
great success, and continues to cultivate himself. 
It is here that the poor children are employed, to 
the number of between thirty and forty; and this 



LETTEKS FKOM HOFWYL. 13^ 

may be said to be the branch to which all the 
others are more or less subordinate, and with 
which they have all some connection. Those 
other branches are — an academy for the sons of 
wealthier persons ; an agricultural institute, con- 
nected with a small experimental farm ; a manu- 
factory of farming machinery and utensils. The 
academy consists of fifty or sixty pupils, chiefly 
of patrician families ; and when Mr. Brougham 
was there, he found seven or eight German princes 
among them, besides several young nobles of that 
nation. These boys are taught every branch of 
elegant and useful learning, by the most eminent 
professors, to obtain whose assistance neither 
pains nor expense is spared. There are said to be 
about twenty of them, with salaries amounting to 
2000/. or 3000/. a year. The method of Pro- 
fessor Herbert, of beginning with Greek, and then 
proceeding to Latin, has been adopted with sin- 
gular success. In teaching the sciences, consider- 
able aid is derived from the method of Pestalozzi, 
which consists in exercising the reasoning facul- 
ties more than is done by the ordinary plan of 
instruction, and in making the process of learning 
much less matter of rote. The extreme rigour of 
Pestalozzi's plan is avoided. Music is taught, 
both theoretically and, to those who have a taste 



14 LETTERS FROM HOEWYL. 

for it, practically. Gymnastic exercises, including 
the use of arms, carpentry, and gardening, are 
added, rather as a means of filling up the hours of 
relaxation ; and among other useful objects, little 
if at all attended to elsewhere, care is taken to 
give by practice a just knowledge of bearings and 
distances, and every thing which is comprehended 
in the phrase of coup d'oeil. The professors are 
described as eminent men in their several lines of 
study, and their moral characters as well as 
manners are most particularly attended to in the 
appointments. The character, the temper, and 
the habits of the young people are the paramount 
objects of the superintendence exercised sedulously 
over them at every moment of time, but so as 
never to oppress or annoy. The methods of pre- 
serving this watchful attention, and at the same 
time leaving the pupil free from any sense of re- 
straint, are among those processes which no de- 
scription can adequately represent. The great 
principle seems to be an appeal to the well-known 
force of habit, and a judicious variation of the 
pursuits and studies, united with a never-failing 
gentleness and serenity of temper in the instructor 
and guardian. Public education, M. de Fellen- 
berg observes, is too generally an uniform process, 
imposed indiscriminately and by force upon every 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 15 

variety of disposition, talents, and character. His 
object, on the other hand, is to suit the education 
to the pupil, and not the pupil to the education. 
A good preceptor should be an experienced friend, 
who guides — not a master, who commands, and, 
above all, not an irascible master. Punishments 
and rewards he considers as equally objectionable: 
for fear makes slaves, and the love of distinction 
unfolds in the end most of the bad passions. Do 
as you would be done by, is, he maintains, the 
only safe rule of conduct to inculcate; a lively 
feeling of right and wrong, good will and kindness 
to all men, the only sentiments fit to be en- 
couraged. Enmlation, perhaps, is too powerful 
and universal to be altogether excluded ; but it 
needs more frequently to be repressed than ex- 
cited." 

Slight as is the above sketch, it contained 
enough to show that the system of education pur- 
sued at Hofwyl answered most of our demands. 
The authority of Lord Brougham confirmed the 
more detailed account of the American writer : 
and the crowning conviction of the excellence of 
the principles which guided the founder of 
Hofwyl, we found in a little volume, published 
in 1839, entitled « The Institutions of De Fel- 
lenberg." The following;- extract is taken from a 



16 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

letter by De Fellenberg himself, stating the ob- 
jects of his institution : — 

" My efforts in the cause of education were 
excited by the palpable defects which presented 
themselves wherever I had an opportunity of 
examining its state, even among the most refined 
nations. The science, as well as the art, of 
education seemed to me very far in arrear of 
every other branch of modern civilisation. I 
reflected deeply, and for a length of time, on the 
wants of the present age in this respect. Ob- 
servation, and personal experience as a member of 
such bodies, had convinced me, thirty years since, 
that nothing adequate to the necessities of man- 
kind could be hoped for through the medium of 
commissions or associations established by public 
authority ; and I at length resolved to point out, 
by means of an extensive series of experiments, 
on my own estate, and on an independent basis, 
what education ought to accomplish for the human 
race : hence arose the Institutions at Hofwyl, such 
as you saw them. 

" We commence our task with the conviction, 
that the destination of every child is indicated 
by Divine Providence in the natural turn of his 
mind : and that no educator should allow himself 



X.ETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 17 

to misapprehend or pervert, according to his own 
contracted ideas, that which the Creator has 
ordered in infinite wisdom. Society has pro- 
vided with great care for the safety of the tem- 
poral inheritance of our youth, which consists in 
visible and tangible property. But, on the other 
hand, that far more precious, imperishable en- 
dowment, which every child receives at the hands 
of his Creator — that individual capital, which 
consists in the sum of his intellectual and moral 
faculties, and on which depends not only the 
acquisition and proper use of wealth, but the 
elevation of man above all dependence on earthly 
possessions, is generally consigned to the absolute 
and often blind disposal of the parental or public 
guardians of youth, without rendering them in the 
slightest degree responsible for their conduct. By 
this neglect of duty on the part of society, both 
the temporal and eternal welfare of innumerable 
children, and of society in general, are most 
seriously and unwarrantably hazarded. In this 
dreadful guilt I would have no share. On the 
contrary, the object which I have most at heart 
is, to point out by means of the facts to be 
observed at Hofwyl, and in other institutions 
which may arise from it hereafter, what Society 
should do in order to fulfil those duties which 



18 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

Christianity imposes upon it, in reference to every 
child that is born within its limits. 

" Jesus Christ himself said, ' Suffer little chil- 
dren, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of 
such is the kingdom of Heaven.' (Matt. xix. 14. ; 
see also Mark, x. 13 to 16.) 

" The most important means of securing a happy 
result in every species of education and instruc- 
tion, is to preserve as much as possible the child- 
like innocence of the pupil, and that cheerfulness 
which is its inseparable companion. He should 
be brought up to desire in the sincerity and joy 
of his heart the welfare of his fellow creatures, 
and to feel the warmest interest in their happiness. 
On this sentiment depend not only his most 
valuable enjoyments, but also his resemblance to 
the Deity, and his noblest distinction from the 
brute creation. 

" An education like this is the only sure mode 
of preparing him to comprehend Christianity 
thoroughly, and embrace it cordially. In order 
to accomplish these objects, he Avho educates must 
be, like the Saviour, the child's best friend, and 
not his tyrant. He must never forget that the 
powers of man are indeed excited to action from 
without, but that the personal activity of the 
individual, operating upon himself, and upon 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 19 

materials which are furnished him for the exercise 
of his faculties, is the only means for their com- 
plete development and cultivation. The more 
animated and earnest these efforts are, the more 
satisfactory will be the result ; and the interest 
which enlivens the pupil in his employments will 
also increase his cheerfulness and happiness. The 
objects of education will thus be more fully at- 
tained, in proportion as he is interested in a well 
arranged course of studies, cheered by his pro- 
gress in them, and encouraged to farther exertions. 
In fact, the great art in education consists in 
knowing how to occupy every moment of life in 
well-directed and useful activity of the youthful 
powers, so that nothing evil shall find room to 
develope itself. 

" It is also of great importance that the child 
should never be employed with exercises or objects 
which are above his comprehension : the de- 
velopment of character which should take place 
at this age must otherwise suffer. It is not 
reasonable to desire to bring down to the level of 
a child's capacity what presupposes the intelli- 
gence of manhood. It is folly to attempt to make 
an immature mind pursue the train of thought 
of the greatest men, as is often done in the 
classical and scientific schools. The infantile con- 



20 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

ceptions of great objects which are thus produced, 
are, in effect, an obstacle to its improvement ; 
and the important lessons to be learned from 
antiquity are thus debarred all access to the 
comprehension of the cultivated youth and to the 
feelings of the mature man. These, and similar 
mistakes, we carefully endeavour to avoid. 

" On the reception of a new pupil, our first 
object is to obtain an accurate knowledge of his 
individual character, with all its resources and 
defects, in order to aid in its farther development 
according to the apparent intention of the Creator. 
To this end, the individual independent activity 
of the pupil is of much greater importance than 
the ordinary busy officiousness of many who 
assume the office of educators and teachers. They 
too often render the child a mere magazine of 
knowledge, collected by means purely mechanical, 
which furnishes him neither direction nor aid in 
the business of life. The more ill-digested know- 
ledge a man thus collects, the more oppressive 
will be the burden to its possessor, and the more 
painful his helplessness. Instead of pursuing this 
course, we endeavour, by bestowing the utmost 
care upon the cultivation of the conscience, the 
understanding, and the judgment, to light up a 
torch in the mind of every pupil, which shall 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 21 

enable him to observe his own character, and shall 
set in the clearest light all the exterior objects 
which claim his attention. 

« A great variety of exercises of the body and 
the senses are employed to prepare these in- 
struments of the human soul for the fulfilment of 
their destination. It is by means of such ex- 
ercises that every man should acquire a knowledge 
of his physical strength, and attain confidence 
with regard to those efforts of which he is capable, 
instead of that fool-hardiness which endangers the 
existence of many who have not learned to esti- 
mate their own powers correctly. 

" All the various relations of space should be 
presented to the eye, to be observed and com- 
bined in the manner best adapted to form the 
coup d'oeil. Instruction in design renders us 
important service in this respect : every one should 
thus attain the power of reproducing the forms 
he has observed, and of delineating them with fa- 
cility ; and should learn to discover the beauty 
of forms, and to distinguish them from their con- 
trasts. It is only where the talent is remarkable 
that the attempt should be made to render the 
pupil an artist. 

" The cultivation of the ear by means of vocal 
and instrumental music is not less important to 



22 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

complete the development of the human being. 
The organs of speech, the memory, the under- 
standing, and the taste, should be formed in the 
same manner by instruction, and a great variety 
of exercises in language, vocal music, and decla- 
mation. The same means should also be em- 
ployed to cultivate and confirm devotional feelings. 

" In the study of natural history, the power of 
observation is developed in reference to natural 
objects. In the history of mankind, the same 
faculty is employed upon the phenomena of 
human nature and human relations, and the moral 
taste is cultivated ; at the same time, the faculty 
of conceiving with correctness, and of employing 
and combining with readiness, the materials col- 
lected by the mind, and especially the reasoning 
faculty, should be brought into exercise by means 
of forms and numbers exhibited in their multiplied 
and varied relations. 

" The social life of our pupils contributes ma- 
terially to the formation of their moral character. 
The principles developed in their experience of 
practical life among themselves, which gradually 
extends with their age and the progress of their 
minds, serves as the basis of this branch of edu- 
cation. It presents the examples and occasions 
necessary for exhibiting and illustrating the great 



LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 23 

principles of morals. According to the example 
of Divine Providence, we watch over this little 
world in which our pupils live, and act, with an 
ever ^vigilant, but often invisible care, and con- 
stantly endeavour to render it more pure and 
noble. 

" At the same time that the various improve- 
ments of science and art are applied to the benefit 
of our pupils, their sound religious education 
should be continually kept in view in eveiy branch 
of study ; this is also the object of a distinct series 
of lessons, which generally continue through the 
whole course of instruction, and whose influence 
is aided by the requisite exercises of devotion. 

" By the combination of means I have de- 
scribed, we succeed in directing our pupils to the 
best methods of pursuing their studies independ- 
ently; we occupy their attention according to 
their individual necessities and capacity, with 
philology, the ancient and modern languages, the 
mathematics and their various modes of applica- 
tion, and a course of historical studies, comprising 
geography, statistics, and political economy. 

" It is the object of our most earnest efforts to 
enlarge and ennoble the ideas of our pupils in 
regard to human nature in general, as well as to 
their own conduct in particular, by enriching 



24 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

their circle of experience from the records of 
history. They should by this means attain a 
thorough acquaintance with every variety of 
human existence and conduct, and with all the 
consequences of wisdom and folly, of virtue and 
vice. They should discover themselves, their 
families, their countrymen, and their country, in 
the page of history ; and we should endeavour to 
render them so familiar with every possible lot 
in life, before their own is fixed, that the most 
unexpected events shall not take them by surprise, 
or produce embarrassment. They should there 
observe the rocks on which human happiness is in 
danger of being wrecked, and learn how to avoid 
them, before they are hurried away by the whirl- 
pool of passions. 

" We should also draw from history a panoramic 
view of human nature in its purest and best forms, 
and in the various paths of life which are acces- 
sible to us. We should form for ourselves an 
ideal model of the highest excellence, one so 
adapted to our circumstances and individual cha- 
racter, that we may adhere to it through life, 
that we may cheerfully struggle to realise it — 
nay, that we may be ready to live and to die for 
its attainment. 

" History should finally present to us the 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 25 

course of Divine Providence in directing the 
destinies of individuals, and of the human race in 
general. It should produce an elevation and 
energy in our religious character, which should 
continue through our lives. This object is best 
attained by presenting as early as possible to the 
view of the child the great books of God — that of 
nature, and that of Providence, as exhibited in 
real life, in history, and in the Holy Scriptures. 
But they should be presented in a manner adapted 
to form his religious feelings — in such a manner 
that the traces of the infinite wisdom and goodness 
of the Creator and Preserver of the world may 
never escape his observation. Such an examin- 
ation of those laboratories of the creation which 
are accessible to us, and of the productions of the 
infinite skill of the Most High, is the best means 
of, preserving us from that pride which might be 
excited by an imperfect acquaintance with human 
science and art. Where is the man who, after a 
religious examination of the works of God, whether 
in nature or in the sphere of moral and intellectual 
life, could neglect to do homage in humility and 
prayer to their great Author? — who would not 
attempt the fulfilment of the great ends of his 
being ? 

" In this manner, we establish our institutions 
c 



26 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

upon the basis of genuine Christianity. We pro- 
ceed in the commencement of our labours upon 
the essential principles and conditions of the 
Gospel. Every sound system of education must 
rest on the instructions of Jesus Christ. In these 
instructions is given the substance of its theory ; 
the best practical example for the educator is to 
be found in the Saviour of men : and in the re- 
sult, we should aim at no other object than the 
realisation of that e kingdom of God' to which 
He has directed mankind." 

You have now before you the grounds upon 
which we resolved to send our elder lads to 
Hofwyl. 



LETTEES FROM HOFWTL. 27 



LETTER III. 

Switzerland has for centuries enjoyed the repu- 
tation of being the country of patriotism ; a sen- 
timent which manifests itself according to the 
circumstances that excite it to action. Austrian 
tyranny produced a Tell ; the moral and intellec- 
tual wants of his fellow-countrymen called forth 
a Pestalozzi, and haye inspired a Fellenberg. 

The principles on which Hof\yyl is conducted 
exclude the possibility of its haying been a pecu- 
niary speculation; a suspicion to which philan- 
thropic plans are unfortunately too liable in this 
age. The profit arising from the farm, the sale 
of agricultural machinery, and the high school, 
go into the general fund, and assist in supporting 
the rural school, and extending the general edu- 
cational advantages. The design of the estab- 
lishment, originating in the founder's wish to 
amend society, comprehended the necessary at- 
tention to details, and recognised the conditions 
under which the social state is at present held 
together. 

Money and economy are needful to carry on 
every establishment, whether it be founded for 
c 2 



28 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

benevolent or commercial purposes ; and the pru- 
dent administration which belongs to the success 
of the latter is equally needful to the former. 
M. de Fellenberg's comprehensive mind grasped 
the subject in all its bearings ; and while he con- 
templated the formation of a great scheme, he lost 
sight of none of the subordinate circumstances 
necessary to its completion. This necessary at- 
tention to economical details led to much mis- 
representation. The greatness of the scheme 
could scarcely be comprehended by common 
minds. The Edinburgh Reviewer, (vol. xxxi.) 
says : " At first, all the neighbourhood, and par- 
ticularly the Bernese government and grandees, 
regarded M. de Fellenberg as an enthusiast and 
a visionary, whose schemes would lead to his cer- 
tain ruin. They began afterwards to change the 
mode of attack, when they saw those schemes 
succeeding ; they described him as a money- 
making person, and one who, under the appear- 
ance of benevolence, carried on plans of avarice. 
They generally considered the academy as a pecu- 
liar source of profit ; but, from what has been 
already stated, the reader may have perceived 
that this branch of the establishment can do 
nothing more than bear its own expenses; and 
that if the farming operations do not perform 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 29 

the rest, tlie whole must be in arrear. Yet every 
one admits that the design has, in fact, succeeded : 
that the land has been greatly improved; that 
marshes hare been drained, and fine crops made 
to grow where weeds only were seen before ; that 
the poor labourers are bettered in condition, 
habits, and acquirements ; that every thing goes 
on with the appearance of a flourishing and an 
improving concern, and that no debts are con- 
tracted, nor any difficulties of a pecuniary nature 
experienced." The Reviewer also observes, that 
the state of Mr. de F.'s accounts " bear testimony 
to the success of this truly enlightened and bene- 
volent attempt ; " an important fact, evincing 
that great educational objects may be promoted 
with little pecuniary sacrifice, and giving reason 
to hope that the example thus offered may be 
followed in our own country, though necessarily 
under less favourable conditions. The Reviewer 
proves that the farm was the profitable part of 
the establishment, in consequence of the admi- 
rable mode of cultivation, the ready market which 
the institution afforded, and the low amount at 
which the labour is charged, this labour being 
chiefly contributed by the pupils of the rural 
school. The farm thus formed their school of in- 
dustry, and enabled Mr. de Fellenberg to receive 
c 3 



30 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

his richer pupils at a lower price than he could 
otherwise have done. The academy did little 
more than pay itself; no expense being spared 
to secure the best masters and the best means of 
education. " It is evident," says the Reviewer, 
" that nothing but the strictest economy can 
bring the expenditure of the establishment within 
the income. The surplus of that income, we be- 
lieve, has always been applied to the extension of 
the system. Hofwyl is a great whole, where 120 
or 130 pupils, more than 50 masters and profes- 
sors, as many servants, and a number of day 
labourers, six or eight families of artificers and 
tradesmen, altogether about 300 persons, find a 
plentiful, and in many respects a luxurious sub- 
sistence, exclusive of education, out of the pro- 
duce of the farm." 

The separation from our children was as great 
a trial to them as to ourselves. They were leaving 
" home," and going amongst strangers ; but they 
had confidence in the wisdom of our decision, 
and they had moreover a vague perception that 
they wanted some better preparation for life 
than could be given them at home. There was 
more of hope than of fear in our parting, and we 
had that indescribable sense of support which all 
enjoy while performing what they believe to be 
their duty. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 31 

" Loving your children as you seem to have 
loved them, how can you part with them ?" is an 
inquiry often put to us. The answer only re- 
verses the question: "We part with them because 
we love them." Parental love does not consist 
only in the bestowal of personal marks of care 
and affection, for this often evinces much selfish- 
ness ; there is as much (perhaps more) happiness 
received as conferred. The fondness which de- 
sires the companionship of the loved object, the 
weak fears which tremble at moral discipline, the 
want of faith in the Providence which takes note 
of the fall of a sparrow, these do not constitute 
true parental care. Neither does filial piety de- 
pend upon proximity to parents, but mainly on 
the character of the father and mother, whom the 
child is taught " to honour." Paternal love is 
best shown in submitting to adopt the course 
which reason, duty, and a faith in what is right, 
point out, at whatever sacrifice of self. The 
Spartan mother devoted her child to his country. 
The Hebrew mother consecrated her much de- 
sired eldest born to the service of God's temple. 
The mother of Christ watched the youth of her 
son, and " kept all his sayings in her heart, 
though she understood not those sayings;" her 
submission and her faith went together ; " she 
c 4 



32 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

stood by the cross, but she murmured not." Surely 
these are examples to be well considered. 

The first few years of life are the mother's ; she 
has during that time ample means and opportunity 
to fix herself and all that belongs to a virtuous 
home in the affections of her child. Some of the 
best and greatest men have attributed their good 
qualities to this early maternal influence. If she 
have made her part good, she need not fear the 
effects of absence, provided the character of the 
persons into whose hands she resigns her charge 
is that of the Christian educator described in my 
last letter. It is usually after this period that 
the son feels the father's influence, for which the 
good mother and the wise educator will have 
made the best preparation. Yet it were to be 
wished that fathers should be something more, 
even in the childhood of their sons, than the play- 
fellow of an hour, the dispenser of money, or the 
terror of the refractory. 

You have, in your last letter, questioned whe- 
ther a foreign education will be of service to an 
Englishman. To this I reply, first consider the 
principles upon which Hofwyl is established, and 
remember also that the physical and mental con- 
stitution of man is originally the same, that the 
moral virtues, derived as they are from the same 



LETTEES FEOM HOFWYL. 33 

sources, are the same. Further, the same reve- 
lation has been given for all ; there is one and the 
same providential care, one and the same uni- 
versal Father, Creator, and Saviour. We are 
promised that we shall be one flock, under one 
Shepherd, and I hope I do not err in believing 
that education is a means of effecting this union. 
It is therefore a just inference, that the same 
principles should direct the education of the great 
universal family. Language, and some difference of 
customs, arising from climate and other physical 
eauses, will probably eventually form the chief 
distinctions between civilised countries : but even 
these cannot be considered a peculiar gift or 
distinction, since language can be acquired by all 
alike, and varieties of custom are only differences 
of local habits, which all can and do easily assume 
and lay aside. A perfect education does not pro- 
pose to form a character according to notions 
which prevail in England, France, or Germany ; 
but according to unchanging principles, which, 
equally with those on which all science rests, are 
traced to the laws of creation, and have their 
origin in the will and power of the Almighty. 

The first letters we received from our absent 
children bespoke the difficulties they experienced 
in submitting to a change of habits, and to the 
c 5 



34 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

order and routine in which they were so deficient. 
Gradually their communications assumed a better 
tone; the influence of regular and varied occu- 
pation began to show itself, while the association 
with other boys accustomed to the discipline, and 
happy in their duties, also operated favourably. 
One of them expressed, after two months' expe- 
rience, " I think I feel more comfortable every 
day, as I become more reconciled to the change." 
As German is the language spoken in the school, 
and in which instruction is given, the chief mental 
occupation was at first the study of that tongue. 
They received as many as three lessons daily ; 
but as they were given by three different masters, 
there appeared to be no unhealthy sense of wea- 
riness. I find in an early letter this remark: 
" Every hour, the lesson, the room, and the master 
are changed ; and if it were not for this arrange- 
ment, I don't think we could stand so much work." 
Now, lest this phrase should alarm you, let me say 
that the purely mental labour occupied at this 
period but six hours daily. German, French, 
English, and arithmetic were the employments at 
this time ; the other occupations, which cannot be 
classed as mental, were drawing, writing, singing, 
dancing, gymnastics, and cabinet-work. 

When Christmas arrived, that period which 
seems to draw hearts together more closely, when 



LETTEES FKOM HOFWYL. 35 

there is a stronger impulse towards the interchange 
of kindness and regard, we felt the void in our 
circle, and we had some apprehension that our 
absentees might be painfully sensible that they 
were far from home. We were therefore re- 
lieved by the receipt of a letter, which, after some 
affectionate allusions, and cheerful congratulations, 
went on thus : " We shall not be without our 
pastimes and merry-makings. On Christmas eve 
each boy gives a present to any of the other boys 
he likes. After supper the pupils and the family 
of M. de Fellenberg assemble in the salle-a-man- 
ger: the immense folding-doors which separate 
that room from the music-room are thrown open, 
and display the Christmas tree, lighted up with 
tapers, and hung round with gilded walnuts and 
flowers. Music is played; the figures seated 
under the tree come forward, carrying baskets 
loaded with presents. Our holidays begin on the 
24th December, at noon, and last ten days ; but 
they are not entire holidays, for we shall work 
from eight till eleven. On the last day of the old 
year a very fine dinner is given ; and after it is 
finished, the ladies, and all the masters but one, 
leave the room : the boys then scramble for the 
bons-bons, of which there are plenty. After 
supper there will be a grand fancy dress ball, and 
c 6 



36 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

we dance in the new year. Next morning we 
breakfast with the ladies, on coffee and rolls — 
prayers at eleven, dinner at three, when every 
body drinks every body's health." I should 
hesitate to give you these simple details, did they 
not evince the contentment of the parties and the 
regard paid to their pleasures. 

The winter, though a long and severe season, 
was passed in almost uninterrupted health : we 
had no complaints of the difference of climate. 

The faults pointed out by M. de Fellenberg, in 
his letters, were precisely those which belonged 
to an education in which regular discipline and 
constant healthy occupation of mind and body 
could not be attained. We endeavour to re- 
medy these defects with the children at home ; 
but, with all our pains, we fall far short of what 
we need. It is now a question whether it is 
not our duty to place them all at Hofwyl ; and in 
order to ascertain this more certainly, we have 
determined, when the season is sufficiently ad- 
vanced, to visit the Institution, and if our expect- 
ations are justified, consign " all our little ones " 
to its keeping. It will be an interesting occupa- 
tion to compare descriptions with facts, and to 
observe the details by which the principles we 
approve are carried out. Am I to be disappointed ? 



LETTEBS FROM HOFWTL, 37 



LETTER IV. 

Youe letter entreating me to give you all my 
observations and impressions as they arise, in 
order that you may have them before they lose 
their freshness, reached me the morning we left 
the Thames. As this is your choice, you must 
forgive the egotism which necessarily accompanies 
such a mode of communication. I shall spare you 
any lengthened account of our journey. We 
travelled by Antwerp and the Rhine, and our 
experience of the way between Liege and Cologne 
causes us to rejoice in the progress of the railroad 
which is about to unite those cities. The children 
went through the fatigues without any annoyance; 
and it was amusing enough to see how thoroughly 
they made themselves at home, under all circum- 
stances, and in all places. Certainly there is no 
better citizen of the world than a child. It is 
worthy of remark, as corroborative of the obser- 
vations upon the mental character of children, 
that they were much more impressed by natural 
objects than by any of the novelties in national 
character, manners, and habits — costume, perhaps, 
excepted. In many instances, Nature herself 
affected their minds in an unexpected manner, 



38 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

often because they had few or no points of com- 
parison and association, and because they perceived 
parts, rather than the whole. The castles on the 
Rhine were perhaps amongst the most interesting 
objects not natural, illustrating, as they seemed 
to do, early tales of wonder, whether romantic 
or historical. Rolandsek — The Brothers — 
Ehrenbreitstein, and Heidelberg — like actors in 
a tragedy, appeared to make real what had hitherto 
been only matter of imagination. 

But Switzerland was our magnet, not only from 
the trust we had already consigned to her keeping, 
but from the force of early associations. There 
is no part of history, except perhaps the story of 
Joseph and his brethren, which affects a child 
more deeply than the history of William Tell, 
and this because a child was an actor in both. 
One feels at a very early age a veneration for the 
country that produced a patriot ; the land of 
Wallace and of Bruce excites such a sentiment, 
but not so early as Switzerland, simply because 
there was no child to share their sufferings and 
triumphs. Early impressions would have led me 
to prefer Switzerland as the adopted father-land of 
my sons, to any other country ; and I am happy 
to have these young imaginations strengthened by 
sober conviction, since there is much evidence 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 39 

that Switzerland is peculiarly fitted for the high 
purposes of education. 

The short stay we made at Bonn and Heidelberg 
gave us no favourable notions of German students. 
Uncombed and uncut hair, ragged beards and 
mustachios, red caps and dirty clothes, coun- 
tenances haggard and worn by excess, and an 
apparent indifference to propriety, characterised 
the greater number we saw. The outward qualities 
which lend youth its highest charm were wanting. 
I have no doubt there are many estimable persons 
among the students of the German universities, 
men equally above the affectations of refinement 
or coarseness ; but the system of education must 
be incomplete that does not guard against evils 
so plainly indicated by appearances. I involun- 
tarily exclaimed, " If the Hofwyl lads should be 
like these ! " 

We entered Switzerland, via Basle : we were a 
day going thence to Soleure, and it seemed a long 
day, for we had hoped to have reached Hofwyl in 
the evening. But if we had effected this, we 
should have arrived after dark, and thus lost the 
anxious pleasure of looking for the first glimpse 
of our children's home. Our driver only spoke 
Swiss German, and we could not make ourselves 
intelligible to him. One of the waiters of the inn 



40 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

at Soleure had given him the necessary directions, 
and the same person told us he had seen some 
of les eleves d'Hofwyl, a few weeks before, pass 
through the town with their knapsacks at their 
backs. We knew that a party, amongst whom 
were our sons, had employed three days' holiday 
in a walk to the Jura, that they had ascended the 
Weissenstein, and returned by Soleure, where 
they had visited the arsenal. We had travelled 
about two hours, when the driver stopped : on 
one side of the road was a chateau with a court 
and fountain in front ; on the other a large Ber- 
nese cottage, with overhanging roof and galleries. 
Is this Hofwyl ? exclaimed the children ; the 
driver shook his head — we had stopped to bait 
the horses, and this was Fraubrunnen. The cot- 
tage, a gasthaus or inn, neat and thriving. The 
landlady gentle, obliging, with a delicate-looking 
child in her arms, who could understand the bons- 
bons the boys thrust into her mouth, though 
their language was unintelligible. The landlady 
replied to our inquiries, that she knew M. de 
Fellenberg, and that the Hofwyl lads sometimes 
stopped at her house in their excursions. These 
evidences of our approach to the place of our des- 
tination gave a charm to the house, which was 
also interesting from the novelty of its construe- 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 41 

tion ; yet much as we were amused by the ex- 
amination so freely permitted to us, we were 
delighted to see the bridles replaced on the horses' 
heads, and to find ourselves once more en route. 

It is more difficult to command our feelings in 
meeting those we love, than in parting from them. 
There is a fortitude necessary to the latter, a 
desire to spare pain, which the former does not 
appear to command. The anxiety with which 
we gazed from the carriage is indescribable. We 
were to meet our children! — were we to find them 
improved, or were all our hopes to be cast down ? 
This question pressed upon us at this moment 
with a force never felt on any former occasion. 

Hofwyl lies on the right of the road from 
Soleure to Berne : I do not know whether I 
have told you we had seen a series of lithographed 
views of Hofwyl. Almost suddenly, on an emi- 
nence about a mile distant, I perceived a large 
building, which I recognised as that called the 
Grand Institut. We passed a turn in the road, 
which looked as if it must lead to this large man- 
sion. " Surely the driver is going on to Berne ! " 
we called to him, and though we could not com- 
prehend each other's words, his countenance 
showed at once that he was aware of the cause of 
our anxiety, and that he would not disappoint us. 



42 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

There are human sympathies requiring no verbal 
communications. 

We had learned from our sons' letters that eleven 
was the hour for the bath, twelve for dinner ; it 
was now about half-past eleven. As we ascended 
the gentle slope leading to the Grand Institut, we 
caught sight of the bath-house, and, fixing our 
eyes in that direction, we perceived, as we had 
anticipated, several boys walking along a path 
with towels in their hands — one of them began 

to run. " That's ," we exclaimed : at the 

next instant a second followed. " They see us ! 
they see us ! " but they disappeared behind some 
buildings, and we fancied they were not aware of 
our approach. But in another minute they 
emerged again, and were now sufficiently near 
for us to recognise the well-known faces : the 
carriage stopped — the driver needed no orders. 

It required no scrutinising observation to dis- 
cover that health and cheerfulness of body and 
mind were unimpaired. The brotherly greetings 
were affectionate, but manly : a parent's recep- 
tion sanctioned more tenderness. No ! there was 
no disappointment ! — nothing to take from the 
entire happiness of the meeting. 

We were to lodge at the Lehrer Haus, a build- 
ing about a quarter of a mile from the Grand 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 43 

Institut. It is an hotel, or rather boarding-house, 
at which certain of the professors live, and where 
visitors to Hofwyl are received, with M. de Fel- 
lenberg's permission. The necessity of this per- 
mission I will explain hereafter. The Lehrer 
Haus is kept by the wife of the person who acts as 
accountant, or chef du bureau : it has no licence as 
a place of public entertainment ; but travellers 
who visit Hofwyl, as one of the points of interest 
in the canton Berne, can obtain refreshment at the 
Lehrer Haus. Like all the other houses on the 
estate, it is well built and commodious : our ac- 
commodations were simple, but very comfortable : 
we had two private apartments, and we took our 
meals in the salle-a-manger. The professors had 
their separate table in another large dining-room. 
You are already aware that we expected to 
meet friends at Hofwyl — the relatives of one of 
the pupils: they were residing in the Lehrer 
Haus, and added their welcome to those of our 
children. We did not feel ourselves strangers, 
even on this the first day of our arrival ; and in 
two or three days we considered ourselves old in- 
habitants. We were already acquainted with 
some of the pupils, and before night they had all 
visited us, to receive the letters and remembrances 
we had brought from their parents in England. 



44 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

All were looking in robust health, and, like our 
sons, had not only increased in height, but in size 
of limb and breadth of shoulders : their counte- 
nances wore an expression of cheerful content. 
We had received a message from M. de Fellen- 
berg, inviting us to see him at the Grand Institut, 
or Grande Maison, (or, as it is usually called by 
the English boys, the big house,) in the afternoon. 
You will readily believe we looked forward to 
this our first interview too anxiously not to be 
punctual. We were shown into the saloon, a 
very large apartment, fitted up with simplicity 
and comfort. The choice and arrangement of the 
furniture indicated the refinements of an elegant 
taste, rather than those of luxury. M. de Fel- 
lenberg soon entered. Picture to yourself a man 
about five feet ten inches in height, with a broad, 
high forehead, a bald head, with long silver hair at 
the back, placid features, and a thoughtful but 
penetrating expression, mingled with benevolence 
and dignity. His carriage erect, his manners 
courteous. I never saw a more venerable aspect. 
After the first greetings, he entered at once 
upon the topic most interesting to us — the cha- 
racter of our sons, the difficulties hitherto ex- 
perienced by themselves and their educators, and 
the general and individual means adopted for their 



LETTEES FKOM HOFWYL. 45 

advancement. This conversation necessarily led 
to frequent observations on his own principles, 
and references to his long life of educational ex- 
perience. We were impressed by the clearness 
of his thoughts, his minute perceptions of cha- 
racter, his enlarged and comprehensive under- 
standing, his devotion to the best interests of his 
fellow-men ; and especially we noted, that with 
this devotion there was no tinge of visionary 
enthusiasm. While he desires the educational 
advance he has advocated and effected, there is no 
exaggeration or self-deception. He views things 
as they really are, and expects no sudden reform- 
ation — no extraordinary evidences of success. 
He has a firm confidence in the possibility of 
amending human character by means of a more 
complete system of education, so that it shall be 
brought into a condition to harmonise with the 
precepts of the Gospel : his faith in all that is good, 
in all that carries out the spirit of that Gospel, as 
coinciding with the will of God, has ever been, 
and still is, his great support. This faith brings 
with it the most perfect submission. I cannot 
recall his precise words, but I remember him to 
have said, " It is our duty to endeavour by every 
right means to effect any good object, and to 
relax no effort which may lead to success ; but if, 



46 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

after repeated endeavours, we cannot succeed, we 
are bound to consider our failure as indicative of 
the will of God, and wait his pleasure. We may- 
turn our strength elsewhere, neither despairing of 
the final accomplishment of what is good, nor 
complaining of our failure, but still hoping, be- 
lieving, and submitting." 

In speaking of M. de Fellenberg, and all that 
he has effected, it is my desire to avoid every 
thing like exaggeration. It is difficult to separate 
the man from the cause ; but it is the latter I 
would advocate : this will exist when the phi- 
lanthropist and his admirers are no more; the 
principles which have guided him are everlasting, 
and any errors in their application will be ac- 
knowledged by himself, for the benefit of those 
who may follow in the same path. While lis- 
tening to his enlightened remarks — while living 
amongst the evidences of his benevolence, his 
ability, and of his energy, it is impossible not to 
feel gratitude and admiration towards one who 
has provided so abundantly for the highest wel- 
fare of his fellow-creatures. But, as I have 
already said, I do not intend, in describing all I 
may observe, to praise M. de Fellenberg. I shall 
only desire to show in what way he has carried 
his principles into action; any acknowledgment 



LETTERS FROM HOEWYL. 47 

of their excellence is an indirect eulogium upon 
himself. Personal ambition, or the love of the 
world's applause, have never been amongst the ob- 
jects of M. de Fellenberg's desires : he has had 
nobler motives. The sympathy, the approbation, 
and the co-operation of the wise and good naturally 
await him ; and to these he is neither insensible 
nor indifferent : perhaps they have been amongst 
the few consolations of his difficult career ; for he 
will be permitted but a partial view of the good 
he has effected : he has sown the good seed, but 
he will not reap the full harvest in this world. 

It was one of the designs contemplated in the 
establishment of Hofwyl, that it might serve as a 
model for similar institutions. Parts of the sys- 
tem have been carried into operation in other 
countries, principally connected with the Indus- 
trial School, but no other person has yet been 
found to devote life and fortune to a similar 
enterprise. The character of the individual who 
can plan and execute such an object, forms a part 
of the scheme, and is therefore important to those 
who propose to follow in his career. May there 
not be kindred spirits, who only require to be 
stimulated to undertake and accomplish a similar 
work, by the contemplation of a practical instance 
of what one mind has effected ? If, therefore, I 



48 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

hereafter repeat portions of M. de Fellenberg's 
conversation, or describe any of the circumstances 
connected with his life, I entreat you to remember 
I have no intention to exalt him as an individual, 
but only to elucidate his principles and course of 
action, as connected with the cause he has in 
hand. 

I subjoin a biographical sketch of his early 
history, drawn up by himself, in a letter to 
Mr. Woodbridge, dated August, 1829. 

" My dear Sir, 

" In compliance with your request, I now pre- 
sent you with an account of those incidents 
which memory suggests as the most striking and 
characteristic of my life. 

" I was born in 1771. I was, if I mistake not, 
only four years of age when, playing with a small 
cart, I was forced by its impulse down a steep 
declivity, towards a stream of sufficient depth to 
drown me. At the same time I beheld my mother 
hastening to my assistance, and endeavouring to 
arrest the cart. I saw her extended upon the 
gravelly declivity, still persevering, although 
covered with blood, in her maternal efforts, with- 
out which I should have lost my life. The 
impression made by this act of devotedness has 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 49 

never been effaced from my memory, or from my 
heart. I believe it contributed powerfully to direct 
me in that course of life which I have followed 
during the last forty years. It was eight years after 
this event that I saw my mother holding a gazette 
in the embrasure of a window in the castle of 
Wildenstein in Argovie, when my father was pre- 
fect of the government of Berne. I saw her weep- 
ing bitterly. I ran to entreat her to tell me what 
occasioned her tears. She at first answered that 
she could not tell me, because I should not be 
able to understand her. Upon my renewed en- 
treaties, she said, that the Americans had lost a 
battle, and explained to me, in a manner suited 
to the understanding of a child of my age, the 
struggle between the English government and the 
freemen of North America. The impression which 
this account, accompanied by my mother's tears, 
produced upon me, is among the number of those 
which exerted a preponderating influence on my 
youthful development. It was about this time 
that I found myself, then twelve years of age, 
with an old aunt, under a large linden tree, 
before the castle of Wildenstein, attentively 
observing, while conversing with her, what was 
passing in the yard. We suddenly saw a man, 
clothed in a singular manner, with a thick beard 
D 



50 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

and long black hair, ascending with rapid steps 
the avenue to the castle. My aunt, alarmed at 
this apparition, sought in her pocket for some- 
thing to give him, to induce him to withdraw. 
At the same time, I saw my father, who, in the 
meanwhile had left the castle, hastening with 
great eagerness to embrace him. My aunt was 
astonished, and I could hardly wait for a convenient 
moment to ask my father for an explanation of 
what seemed so enigmatical in the apparition that 
had excited my curiosity. I learned, after the 
departure of this man, equally singular in his con- 
versation and appearance, that, notwithstanding 
his then repulsive aspect, he was highly distin- 
guished for his benevolent temper and devotedness 
to the best interests of humanity. It was upon 
this occasion that I heard for the first time the 
name of Pestalozzi. I had at Wildenstein two 
tutors, who exerted an influence over me which 
I shall always remember as a very instructive 
example. One of them, not having discovered 
my natural disposition, and not knowing how to 
impart the instruction which he was to give, 
tormented and wearied me, and, having driven 
me to the last extremity, supposed I was under 
a diabolical influence. This I knew was not the 
case, although I felt that his suppositions would 



LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 51 

lead me to open rebellion against this unpleasant 
mentor, whose suspicions would have greatly in- 
jured me, if my parents had not had the good sense 
to give his place to the excellent Mr. Rengger, 
since then minister of the interior of the Swiss 
republic. But the happiness resulting from en- 
joying his instructions was of short duration: 
this, however, did not prevent our becoming in- 
timately acquainted. Mr. Rengger's treatise upon 
the Calendar, which appeared in 1788, and his 
report of my school for the poor, published in 
1815, proved to what an extent our views and 
affections harmonised together. 

" I went, a few years after, with my mother to 
visit the castle of Konigsfelden, where the nobility 
of Austria had conspired against the liberty of 
Switzerland, under the auspices of Queen Agnes. 
The historical recollections which this place re- 
vived occupied me attentively. Here, too, I saw, 
contiguous to the castle of Konigsfelden, a house 
inhabited by insane persons, who had been gene- 
rally brought to this state by their bad conduct. 
The wretched aspect they presented excited my 
compassion, and my mother, seizing the favourable 
moment, withdrew with me into her chamber, and 
there made me take the most solemn vows never 
D 2 



52 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

to lose sight of the unfortunate, but always to 
assist them by all the means in my power. 
After I had pronounced these vows, my mother 
knelt down beside me and offered a fervent 
prayer, beseeching God to enable me to fulfil 
with fidelity the resolution I had formed. I 
afterwards went to Colmar, to the institution of 
the celebrated Pfeffel. I revered him for his 
goodness, but I soon perceived that a blind man 
never ought to direct an enterprise of this kind ; 
and while I observed many useful features in this 
institution, I was struck with many unsuitable 
things which should be banished from the sphere 
of education. Having returned to Berne, my 
native city, I was at first almost wholly absorbed 
with the impressions produced by an excellent 
discourse delivered by my late father, as president 
of the Helvetic Society, at its meeting in Olten, 
upon the necessity of improving our national 
education. From that time I imbibed a decided 
taste for those studies which refer to it ; but I 
only found among my young companions at Berne 
a taste for gaming and dissipation ; and when I 
endeavoured to shelter myself from their pursuit 
in the most retired part of the paternal mansion, 
the furniture of my chamber was heaped up in 
confusion, by way of revenge for my neglect of 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 53 

them.* About this time my late father, then a 
senator of the republic of Berne, often said to 
me, while going to the town-house, that he should 
defend more successfully the interests of his 
country, in proportion as he was fully persuaded 
that I should do so in my turn; and when he 
returned from the senate, saddened by the insuf- 
ficiency of his efforts for the public good, he fre- 
quently remarked, that his disinterested views on 
the subject of his country's welfare received but 
little support from his colleagues, and observed 
that we must redouble our efforts if we would 
hope, one day, to realise our plans. The aspect 
of this venerable father of his country, so often 
grieved by his isolated condition, persevering, 
notwithstanding, in his painful duty, made an 
impression, which was only second to the one 
produced upon my heart by maternal affection, 
in determining the bent of my future life. I was 
but sixteen years old when I entreated my father 
to permit me to leave my native city, that I might 

* At this peiiod, in order to improve his health, which he 
had impaired by study, he gave up the delicate dishes of his 
father's table for very simple fare, and employed other means 
to harden his constitution. He endeavoured to render himself 
independent of artificial wants, and devoted to benevolent pur- 
poses the money wasted by his companions in luxury and 
amusement. 

D 3 



54 LETTERS EROM HOEWYL. 

qualify myself to follow his example in the service 
of my country. My heroic mother frequently 
spoke to me of her grandfather, the Dutch admiral 
Van Tromp, and narrated his exploits, with the 
assistance of some trophies found among the 
family relics, one of which, a present from the 
king of Denmark, represented upon a box of 
amber all the battles he had won. I was thus 
roused to a strong degree of patriotic excitement, 
and I applied myself to the study of the Greek 
language and antiquities with a learned Hellenist, 
who had imitated the celebrated Hemsterhuys 
without acquiring his talents. This man was 
then settled in a country parish in the canton of 
Berne, where he had formed a taste for good 
living and for the pleasures of the chase, and 
attempted to persuade me to accompany him at 
the very time when I was most desirous of 
studying. There I beheld all that was repulsive 
in the pride of learning, and in the exclusiveness 
of limited views of civil policy ; and I finally left 
him, and retired to the house of a village pastor 
in the canton of Argovie. Here I only found 
less pretensions to erudition, with a slight increase 
of philanthropy and elevation of soul, in the 
family in which I hoped to obtain an asylum 
favourable to the Muses and the cultivation of 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 55 

those virtues of which I stood in great need. I 
then travelled all over Switzerland in search of 
them; but I nowhere discovered the beau ideal 
which filled my heart and occupied all the facul- 
ties of my soul. I pursued my studies for some 
time at the German universities, especially the 
study of law, under one of the most distinguished 
lawyers, Professor Hofacker of Tubingen. This 
good man, to whom I communicated my ob- 
servations upon his public lectures, advised me 
not to attend them, but to limit myself to his 
private instruction. He lamented with me the 
obligation which the most learned men of Ger- 
many fell under, of adapting themselves to the 
wants of those practitioners who frequent the 
universities for the purpose of obtaining the 
means of earning a subsistence, without per- 
plexing themselves with the learning, which is 
only obtained by a rational study of the science. 
My attention was now drawn towards philo- 
sophical and political studies. The intensity with 
which I applied myself to them injured my health, 
and led me to wish ardently that an occasion 
would present itself in which I might devote my- 
self exclusively to some cause closely united with 
the best interests of humanity. 

i( I afterwards travelled again over the different 
D 4 



56 LETTERS EROM HOFWYL. 

parts of Switzerland, to examine its state, to find 
means of fulfilling my vows ; but I did not suc- 
ceed in my aim.* My observations only served 
to convince me that, with women as well as 
with men, it was necessary to begin with a well- 
conducted education, to produce, in progress of 
time, that domestic happiness and that influence 
upon the public prosperity towards which all my 
desire tended. The dangers with which the 
French revolution threatened my country induced 
me, in 1795, to visit France. I arrived in Paris 
after the fall of Robespierre. I often attended, 
while there, the meetings of the committee of 
public instruction, and was truly edified by the 
philanthropic and indefatigable activity of the 
Abbe Gregoire. I often saw the Abbe Sieyes 
and other leaders of public affairs. From the 
intrigues which I observed, I could foresee the 
events which caused Switzerland to yield in 1798. 

* In these journeys, which formed one of bis principal oc- 
cupations for ten years, it was F.'s leading object to make him- 
self acquainted with the state of the people, in order to learn how 
he could be most useful to them. The writer has been struck with 
observing how much more familiar he was with the men than 
with the mountains of his country. He generally travelled on 
foot, with his knapsack on his back, residing in the villages and 
farm-houses, and mingling in the labour and occupations, and 
partaking of the rude lodging and fare of the peasants, often 
extending his journeys to surrounding countries. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 57 

I returned to my native country, with the desire 
of informing my countrymen of the destiny which 
awaited them, and of finding some means of 
averting it. With this object, I wrote several 
articles in the gazettes, and circulated several 
pamphlets, in which I sought to convince my 
fellow-citizens that nothing remained for us but 
to sacrifice upon the altar of our country those 
exclusive privileges of the patrician order which 
had alienated the affection of the Swiss nation, 
and to regain their confidence by showing a 
noble zeal for the safety of our country. I found 
but few friends disposed to listen to me, and I 
even passed as a revolutionist. But in 1798 my 
predictions were verified, and the French invaded 
Switzerland." 

Mr. Woodbridge thus continues : — " The cha- 
racter of this work renders it proper that I 
should only state briefly the political events which 
followed. At the approach of the Trench troops 
sent to overthrow the government of Switzerland, 
Fellenberg was active in raising and leading on 
the levy en masse from Lucerne, to resist them. 
But the city of Berne was taken, and the cause 
lost, before any efficient force could be organised. 
Fellenberg was proscribed, a price set upon his 
head, and he was compelled to fly to Germany. 
D 5 



58 LETTEES FROM HOFWTL. 

At this time he designed to come to the United 
States, and sent some of his friends hither, as a 
resource, in case of the utter ruin of affairs at 
home. He was, however, soon afterwards recalled 
to Switzerland, and sent on a mission to Paris, to 
remonstrate against the rapacious and oppressive 
conduct of the agents of the French republic. 
He was instrumental in procuring an order for 
the recall of one of the most profligate ; but the 
utter disregard of principle and honesty which 
pervaded the public men and public measures of 
the day, disgusted him with the diplomatic career, 
and he resigned his office. For a short period after 
his return home he occupied a public station ; but 
the want of faith and public spirit which he found 
in the government, in executing measures whose 
direction had been committed to him, confirmed 
his disgust for political life, and he resolved to 
abandon it entirely, until a better day should 
dawn upon his country. His early disappoint- 
ments in his examination of society — his investi- 
gation of the state of the common people — his 
intercourse with public men — and the convulsions 
he had witnessed, had all conspired to impress 
upon his mind the same conviction, that the only 
resource for ameliorating the state of his own and 
other countries, and- preventing a repetition of the 



XETTEKS FEOM HOFWYL. 59 

liorrors which he had witnessed, was to be found 
in early education, and he resolved henceforth to 
devote himself to this as the object of his life. 
He was appointed a member of the Council of 
Education of Berne, but was soon convinced that 
nothing adequate could be accomplished through 
the medium of legislative commissions ; and, being 
possessed of an ample fortune, he resolved to 
devote this to his great object, and 'to form on 
his own estate, and on an independent basis, a 
model institution, in which it should be proved 
what education could accomplish for the benefit 
of humanity.' He married, about this time, a 
Bernese lady of the patrician family of Tscharner, 
who has borne him twelve children, six of whom, 
as well as their mother, are devoted coadjutors in 
his plan of benevolence. In pursuance of this 
great design, f formed,' as he observed, ' at Paris, 
in presence of those usurpers who had seized upon 
his country like a vulture upon its prey,' he 
purchased the estate called Hofwyl, in the vicinity 
of Berne, and his subsequent life forms an im- 
portant page in the records of humanity. 

" We cannot omit the following testimony to the 

value of a religious education, contained in the 

concluding section of this letter, from which we 

have made extracts. It is the more remarkable, as 

d 6 



60 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

he preserved this unwavering belief in revelation 
at a period when Europe was inundated with 
infidelity. The sincerity and strength of his con- 
victions may be inferred from the efforts he made 
to convince an unbeliever of his acquaintance, as 
described in the following extract : — 'I have 
passed over in silence, my dear sir, all that you 
are already acquainted with ; but I cannot forbear 
mentioning that I am also under great obligations 
to my late esteemed parents for the cultivation of 
my religious character. They were both very 
pious, and Christians in the full extent of the 
term, in practice as well as in principle and sen- 
timent. In consequence of their instructions in 
early life, I have never had any doubts upon the 
subject of religion. The degree of certainty 
which accompanied it was so great, that it ap- 
peared to me impossible that an unbeliever could 
withstand the evidence upon which I grounded my 
religious belief when eighteen years old. The 
unbeliever you spoke of was forty-eight years of 
age. He declared that when his mother died he 
had seen the complete dissolution of human life ; 
and his relations, distinguished for their religious 
attainments, had renounced all hope of restoring 
him to a more cheerful and consoling belief. I 
was not, however, discouraged, and remained six 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 61 

months in his retreat on the shores of the Lake of 
Zurich, in order to convince him of his error ; but 
I failed to enlighten hhn as completely as he 
failed to darken my mind. Many other circum- 
stances contributed to throw light upon the 
subject of religion, and confirm my belief. It 
appears to me unnecessary to add any thing to 
this account, which must be succinct to fulfil its 
aim.' " 



62 LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 



LETTER V. 

The first evening of our arrival was passed in 
the society of M. de Fellenberg's family, which 
consists of his son and daughter-in-law, and four 
unmarried daughters. Our children, and the lads 
with whom we were already acquainted, were 
invited to join us. There was no other restraint 
than such as is imposed by the habits of good 
society. Conversation and music were our 
amusements, the room being sufficiently large to 
allow both to proceed without interruption to 
either. We retired at an early horn*, satisfied and 
thankful that thus far all was well. We had 
arranged to visit Hofwyl previous to the vacation, 
both because we desired to see the Institution at 
work, and also because we would not deprive 
our sons of the advantage of the tour which 
occupies the summer holidays. It was understood 
they were to pass their hours of recreation with 
us, and that there was to be no other interruption 
to their usual course of life. The regularity ob- 
served on all occasions has always been so com- 
plete, that it was mentioned to us as a singular 
circumstance by one of the pupils, that an extra 



LETTEES EEOM HOFWYL. 63 

half-holiday has never been known at Hofwyl. 
Our first morning was occupied in general observ- 
ations; it was a warm bright day, and we left 
our apartments to saunter about, with the feelings 
of travellers, who somewhat weary of locomotion, 
were yet well prepared to enjoy the quiet contem- 
plation of the industry going on around. 

Imagine us seated on one of the many benches 
scattered about the place, ready to receive rather 
than seek impressions. Not far from us is the 
study where one of the music-masters gives the 
lessons — sufficiently distant from the other class- 
rooms to avoid interruption. We hear the sound 
of a violin evidently in the hands of a beginner, 
making his first attempts at scales, aided at inter- 
vals by a confirmed and well-practised hand. At 
a little distance are scattered some of the Real 
Schulers (the pupils of the middle school) sketching 
the large bam and adjacent buildings — a master 
superintending them. On our left, near the 
Manege, are two or three of the Rural Scholars 
breaking stones for the repair of the roads ; while 
under the shade of the projecting roof of the 
school-house, sit two women preparing the vege- 
tables for the noon-day meal; and occasionally 
passing to and fro, in the fulfilment of their par- 
ticular avocations, may be seen a smith, a car- 



64 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

penter, a shoemaker, or a vacher (dairy-man), &c. 
After a while we change our place, and passing 
through the chateau garden, two women in their 
broad-brimmed black chip hats, their braided hair 
hanging down their backs, are clearing the rows of 
lettuces, beans, peas, &c. from weeds ; and by the 
time we are seated under the sycamores on the 
play -ground, the clock of the great house strikes 
the hour, and is echoed by his brother of the 
chateau. Then in about another minute the 
sounds of young cheerful voices are heard, and 
from the doors of the Grande Maison, the car- 
penters' shop, music-room, fencing-room, &c. issue 
the young students ; the fountain is surrounded, 
some washing their hands in the basin, and all in 
turn drinking from the ever-flowing pipe which 
they can reach by means of a step, and by grasping 
the column allow the stream to flow through their 
lips, without any danger of wetting their clothes. 
Two or three run to the circular swing, another 
climbs the pole, while a party of the little 
ones jump on the horizontal tree, and commence 
a sport I have never seen before, but which a 
future letter may describe. Some are off to the 
gardens. A professor leaves the great house, and 
crosses the bosquet ; another is leaning over the 
railing beneath the portico, two or three of the 



LETTERS EROM HOFWYL. 65 

elder lads talking with him. In something more 
than five minutes all is quiet, some have re-entered 
the Grand Maison, one has run up the stairs to 
the carpenters' shop ; the sound of voices singing 
in parts is heard from the music-room; two or 
three boys with drawing-books and pencil-cases, 
accompany the drawing-master to another part of 
the grounds ; while a party of Keal Schulers go 
towards the fields with a master, the large tin 
case carried by one of them betokens a botanis- 
ing excursion; we too move on, and passing 
near the spot whence we heard the violin, we 
now catch the notes of a pianoforte ; we next 
hear the stamp of the fencer, so expressive of 
defiance and of eagerness for the encounter, 
followed by the clash of the foils, and the voice 
of the fencing-master, uttering in French the 
peculiar phraseology of his art. Beneath the 
trees sits a servant knitting, while the little 
children under her care are playing near her. At 
the fountain by the chateau is a rural scholar 
washing some of the windows, which are so con- 
trived as to be removed whole, and thus cleaned 
at a great economy of time, labour, and personal 
safety. Proceeding to the manege, or gymnasium, 
we find some of the Real Schulers going through 
their gymnastic exercises. 



66 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

This is a slight sketch of the kind of scene daily 
and hourly going on at Hofwyl. On this our 
first introduction we felt that we were breathing 
an atmosphere of willing industry. Yet the 
moving power was invisible. No bells — no 
signals — no authoritative voices — no truants — 
no creeping laggards. The clocks strike the 
hours, and the occupations change, each pupil 
proceeds to his next occupation as a matter of 
course, an interval of ten minutes being allowed. 
" What," I inquired of a pupil who had been at 
Hofwyl nearly a year, " is the penalty for failing 
to be in time at the various lessons ? " "I don't 
know of any particular punishment," was the re- 
ply ; " of course if the fault were often repeated, 
it would be corrected ; but one would rather not 
be too late." This remark, together with the appa- 
rent willingness and regularity with which all 
proceeded to their occupations, is one evidence of 
the successful application of the principle e i to 
respect the liberty of the pupil." Mr. Wood- 
bridge has made some admirable remarks on this 
subject. He says, " in general the pupil is taught 
and required to govern himself" Where there are 
arbitrary restraints and severe penalties, this re- 
sult can scarcely be secured; and at least it must 
be difficult to discover whether obedience arises 



LETTEKS EEOM HOFWYL. 67 

from fear of punishment, or from conscientious- 
ness. After establishing such precautionary mea- 
sures as shut out evil influence and example, the 
pupils enjoy a freedom which assists in the de- 
velopment of character, and in forming habits of 
self-government. The free and kind intercourse 
between the masters and the pupils also tends to 
produce these results. 

Having thus glanced at the surface, I will next 
endeavour to give you some notion of the locality 
and the buildings. Hofwyl is situated about two 
leagues from Berne, in a slight undulating plain ; 
the highest ground is cultivated, the lowest forms 
meadows. There are no buildings upon the estate 
but such as belong to M. de Fellenberg, and are 
connected with the institution. From the midst 
of a group of trees on the most elevated part of 
the estate rise a number of buildings, which are 
imposing, from their size, their admirable propor- 
tions, and their grand but simple style of archi- 
tecture. These buildings are arranged with the 
most minute regard to their several uses, and ex- 
hibit in their construction an attention to order 
and economy both of time and property. 

The Grande Maison is the most important of 
the buildings. It is 240 feet long, and 76 wide, 
and contains 60 warmed apartments. It is a 



68 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

double house, divided in the midst on each story, 
by corridors paved with stone. There are en- 
trances at each end of the lower corridor and in 
the middle of the S. front, which are reached by 
a flight of stone steps, covered by a portico. Each 
end of the corridor on the second floor is termi- 
nated by a balcony, the one commanding a view 
of the Alps, the other of the Jura. I shall allude 
again to the interior of this building. 

The next most striking object is the chateau, 
with its tower looking as if covered with scale 
armour. It was the only building on the estate 
when M. de Fellenberg purchased it. It is sur- 
rounded on three sides by a garden, and the back, 
or rather the second front, (for here is the main 
entrance, covered by a portico,) looks into a part 
of the little wood, or bosquet. The bureau, or 
office for conducting all the business of the esta- 
blishment, is in the chateau, and the other part 
of the house was formerly inhabited by Madame 
de Fellenberg and her young family. Opposite 
the Grande Maison is the play-ground for the 
pupils of the high school, which extends along the 
front of the chateau garden to the high road, 
which leads to Munchen Buchsee; the road 
leading from Berne terminates at the great 
house. That part of the play-ground which 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 69 

fronts the latter edifice, is flanked by two build- 
ings ; one containing the cabinet-makers' shop r 
with a storehouse and cellars ; the other is also 
appropriated to the latter use, having formerly 
been the house used for the girls' school conducted 
by Miss de Fellenberg. On the fourth side of 
the play-ground is the small wood known as the 
Bosquet. In the centre is a fountain, consisting 
of a large stone basin, into which the water con- 
stantly flows through a pipe, issuing from a co- 
lumn facing the chief entrance. There is a 
similar fountain opposite the portico of the 
chateau. Imagine yourself in this portico: on 
the right you have trees between you and the 
road; on the other side of which road you see the 
large buildings appropriated to the rural school, 
to the workshops, and to the agricultural depart- 
ment ; at the end of this group of trees a building 
with a fencing-room, and other large apartments 
on the ground floor ; and on the floor above these 
the sleeping-rooms of the Real Schulers, or pupils 
of the intermediate school. On your left is 
another large building, called the Garden House ; 
here is the kitchen and dining-room of the real 
schule, the museum, and above, apartments occu- 
pied by some of the masters, with a covered 



70 LETTERS FEOM HOFWTL. 

gallery looking into the flower-garden, wherein 
is a pretty jet d'eau. 

The last building immediately connected with 
the upper and intermediate schools is the ma- 
nege, the lower part of which is devoted to the 
purposes of gymnastic exercises, the upper part 
to the class-rooms for the middle school. The 
former is upwards of 100 feet long, and 50 wide ; 
large columns support the ceiling; and at the 
upper end is a gallery, from whence the exercises 
may be viewed. There is no floor, but the earth 
is frequently raked up, to render it soft in places 
where the nature of the exercises render such a 
protection necessary. The manege is provided 
with all the machinery necessary to a complete 
course of gymnastics — the ladder, rack, climbing 
and jumping poles, and horse; of the latter 
there are two, one less than the other, for the 
younger classes. Attached to the manege is a 
stable for the riding-horses, some of the elder 
pupils being permitted to ride. The saddlers' shop 
is also here. 

The gardens cultivated by the pupils of the 
high school lie behind the carpenters' shop on the 
side of the road to Berne, while those belonging to 
the middle school are situated behind the manege. 
The latter mostly contain vegetables, and are ge- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 71 

nerally in good order : the former do not on the 
whole exhibit the same appearance of continued 
industry; except, indeed, in a few instances, where 
there is evidence of taste as well as of perseve- 
rance. Yet even the idlers spontaneously acknow- 
ledge the charms of their neighbours' territory, 
and are evidently discontented with themselves. 
During my stay I was frequently invited to look 
at the pinks in H.'s garden, and the roses in L.'s, 
even by the tenants who had little to show in 
their own plots; but they always felt a respect 
for the labours of their companions, and regret 
for their own neglect, with the determination to 
amend. In some instances the resolution was 
acted upon ; and at my next visit the weeds had 
vanished, and the borders were raked. 

I have already alluded to the bath : this is at 
some little distance from the buildings ; it consists 
of a circular stone basin, about ninety feet in 
diameter, with a fountain in the middle, which is 
constantly flowing, while there is also an outlet 
for the redundant water. The sides of the basin 
consist of a series of steps, and its depth is about 
twelve feet : it is surrounded by a narrow path, 
sheltered by a tall, thick h-sdge; and about one 
sixth of the circle is occupied by a wooden alcove, 
or dressing-room, open only on the side of the 



72 LETTEKS FROM HOFWYL. 

water : from the roof of this building projects a 
sort of gallery, from which the expert swimmers 
plunge, or, as it is technically called at Hofwyl, 
make a head. A plank even with the ground 
projects over the rim of the basin, for the less 
practised swimmers to jump from. 

I must say a few words about the bosquet, or 
small wood, which affords a most agreeable shelter 
in the noon-day heat. It is well j)rovided with 
seats, and it was gratifying to observe that neither 
these nor the trees exhibited any marks of cutting 
and carving or wilful mischief. In the midst of 
this bosquet stands a building, or rather a roof 
with its supports, covering double rows of benches 
and desks, capable, perhaps, of containing up- 
wards of one hundred persons. On inquiring its 
purpose, I found it had been erected to accom- 
modate the schoolmasters, invited from all parts 
of Switzerland to assemble during a portion of 
the summer to receive lessons upon the science of 
education. I shall endeavour to learn more about 
this normal school, which Mr. Woodbridge has 
spoken of at some length ; but I will just now 
transcribe a passage from a paper in the " Penny 
Magazine," describing a visit to Hofwyl in 1832 : 
" My attention was peculiarly arrested by about 
one hundred men, who, in a large open building 






LETTEES FKOM HOFWYL. 73 

erected in a recess in the garden, appeared to be 
engaged, like boys in a school-room. Over the 
entrance was inscribed this motto : ' The hope of 
their country.'" When the traveller, in company 
with M. de Fellenberg, visited the different de- 
partments of the institution, he thus once again 
alludes to this spot : " But here," said my vene- 
rable companion, " is the engine upon which I 
rely for effecting the moral regeneration of my 
country (and my attention was directed to the men 
whom I had before seen in the morning) ; these 
are the masters of village schools, come here to 
imbibe my principles, and to perfect themselves in 
their duty. These men have 6000 pupils under 
them ; and if, by the blessing of God, I can con- 
tinue the direction of them, success is certain." 

I shall probably be able, in a future letter, to 
give you a further account of this yearly meeting. 
I daily find fresh matter for observation, reflection, 
and interest, and am quite sure my visit will not 
be long enough to acquaint myself with all that is 
achieved ; but I shall have the opportunity of 
availing myself of the information obtained by 
several competent writers. 



74 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 



LETTER VI. 

You shall now accompany me through the in- 
terior of the Grande Maison, in order that you 
may have as clear an idea as I can give you 
by description of the localities : you must, then, 
people them with their active tenants, and I will 
challenge even your fertile and maternal fancy 
to produce a more cheerful, busy family. 

I have already said that a stone corridor runs 
through the house from end to end, while the 
principal entrance is in the middle of the front. 
Opposite this entrance is the stone staircase, one 
flight leading down to the kitchen and cellars, 
the other to the first and second floors. As you 
enter, the suite of apartments on the right are 
occupied by M. de Fellenberg ; on the left are 
the dining and music rooms, which communicate 
by very large folding-doors : these rooms are 
lighted by eight windows. On the opposite side 
of the corridor, corresponding with these last- 
named apartments, are those used for divine 
service, which are also divided by folding-doors. 
The other half of this side of the house contains 
one study and the drawing-room, or salon. This 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 75 

room has two windows at the end, looking into 
a small shrubbery, and six at the side, com- 
manding a view of the lake, bounded by meadows, 
wooded hills, and corn-fields, the scenery very 
much resembling that of a cultivated English 
park. The study is connected with the salon 
by folding-doors, and looks upon the same 
prospect. Here one class pursue their private 
study or preparation, and receive some of their 
lessons. Desks are placed across the room, a 
given space allotted to each lad, who has in 
front of him a small closet and drawers, in which 
he keeps his books, papers, and other property. 
By this arrangement the students have no commu- 
nication with opposite neighbours, and thus a good 
deal of temptation to idle play and conversation is 
avoided. There are other studies similarly ar- 
ranged, on this side of the house. 

The rooms on the first floor, though large and 
lofty, are not of such vast dimensions as those 
below. Some of them are used as class-rooms, 
while others are appropriated to the masters who 
reside in this part of the establishment. Amongst 
the former are two rooms devoted to the study of 
drawing, fitted up with a fine collection of casts, 
selected at Rome, and consisting of busts, torsos, 
extremities, the capitals and bases of pillars, 
e 2 



76 LETTERS PROM HOFWYL. 

friezes, &c. The large statues of the gladiator Lao- 
coon and others are placed in the music-room. 

On the second floor are the dormitories, ar- 
ranged in the following manner : — One side of 
the house is occupied by two long rooms, the 
sides of which are divided by partitions nearly 
reaching the ceiling; within each partition are 
two beds and two washing-stands. At the end of 
the dormitory a square space is partitioned off, 
and within this is the bed of a master who accom- 
panies the boys to the apartment at the hour ap- 
pointed for retiring to rest, and remains there 
until they are asleep ; and he is the first to wake 
and arouse them in the morning. There is a large 
stove at each end of the room. The arrangements 
in the dormitories evince a conscientious and cau- 
tious regard to moral purity. 

One portion of the upper story is used as an 
hospital, a department very rarely in demand; 
still it is in readiness, and is contiguous to the 
apartments of Anna Maria, the bonne of the es- 
tablishment. She has been reared and trained in 
the institution, and is the wife of an old servant ; 
and her good qualities fit her in every way for the 
fulfilment of her duties, which in the eyes of a 
mother you will admit to be of some importance. 
Although I might not have voluntarily desired to 



LETTERS PROM HOFWYL. 77 

see her capabilities as a nurse exercised, yet, as 
they were called forth by a trifling occasion, I 
could not regret a circumstance that enabled me 
to ascertain the great care and tenderness bestowed 
upon the sick at Hofwyl. One of my sons (a 
new comer) had a slight swelling on the thigh, 
occasioned apparently by the sting of a fly, when 
coming out of the bath. And here I may ob- 
serve M. de Fellenberg was the first to discover a 
circumstance unperceived by me ; he observed 
that the child limped. I name this merely to 
remark upon a characteristic of his mind ; that, 
occupied as he is by vast subjects, the most 
minute circumstances never escape his attention ; 
and it is a universal observation at Hofwyl, that 
M. de Fellenberg sees and knows every thing. 
Yet there is an absence of all littleness ; he ob- 
serves with the watchful eye of benevolence, with 
the care that would prevent, not punish — that 
seeks to convert every event into an ultimate 
cause of good. I mention these evidences of the 
mental character of M. de Fellenberg not so 
much on account of the immediate advantage they 
confer upon the pupils of Hofwyl, as for the ulti- 
mate good of general education. The qualities 
of a mind that has conceived and executed so 
much are worthy the attention of all who make 
E 3 



78 LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 

education their occupation and study ; and there- 
fore it is that M. de Fellenberg himself must be 
considered in conjunction with his works. 

But to return to the invalid, who was placed 
during the day in an airy apartment, where he was 
occasionally looked in upon by the ladies, his 
companions, and the masters. It was amusing 
enough to observe the communication between 
Anna Maria and her patient; she speaking no 
English, he having picked up a few German 
phrases; yet she comprehended all he needed, 
and by those signs which serve as a universal 
language, ascertained and fulfilled all his wishes 
with maternal instinct and tenderness. One good 
little fellow amongst the pupils devoted some part 
of his hours of recreation to a game of chess with 
the invalid ; others brought him their most enter- 
taining books, while many of the elder lads 
afforded him the sympathy of a friendly inquiry 
and a kind look: none seemed to forget that one 
of their fraternity was deprived of his freedom. 
Although the indisposition was of so slight a 
nature, M. de Fellenberg also saw the child daily, 
to ascertain that he was well cared for, and re- 
ceived the report of the medical man. I may as 
well observe here, that the latter resides at the 
next village, and regularly attends the establish- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 79 

ment ; but if any case occurs requiring more than 
simple treatment, a physician from Berne is con- 
sulted. 

I have wandered a long way from the upper 
story of the Grande Maison ; indeed so far that we 
will go at once to the antipodes, namely the 
kitchen and cellars. These are all under ground, 
and are very extensive. A large square stove is 
placed in the centre of the kitchen, and serves for 
all culinary purposes — baking, boiling, frying, 
and stewing ; wood and turf being the fuel. The 
smoke is made to descend, and to assist in heating 
the flues, which in addition to the stoves, convey 
warmth throughout the house. By the way, these 
stoves are all of earthenware, and I presume the 
unpleasant effects of hot iron are thus avoided. 
All the utensils are near at hand, arranged with 
a regard to economy of time, as well as cleanli- 
ness and order. When the meals are ready, the 
dishes are enclosed in a moveable closet, placed 
against the wall, and raised by the turning of a 
wheel into the dining room above. 

The cellars fill an important part in the house- 
hold economy of Hofwyl, since they are prin- 
cipally used as receptacles for the stores of 
vegetables for the winter. Here large quantities 
of potatoes, apples, peas, beans, &c. are protected 
e 4 



80 LETTERS FROM HOEWYL* 

from the frost, and vegetables also are preserved 
green, such as cabbages and lettuces, for winter 
use, by setting them in dry sand. 

The servants (and I believe the custom prevails 
generally in Switzerland and on the Continent) do 
not undertake only one portion of service; they are 
not merely cooks, housemaids, or kitchen-maids, 
but share the work of the house amongst them- 
selves. The cook is perhaps so far an exception 
that she always directs the culinary department, 
with some assistance from the other servants. 
The preparation of the vegetables claims much 
time and attention; and at certain hours before 
the noon and evening meal, it is usual to see 
two or three women sitting at the end of the 
house, cutting and trimming the lettuces, cabbages, 
and potatoes, and frequently enlivening their task 
by singing in parts. The women at work in the 
neighbouring fields thus often cheer their toil. 
The " ploughman whistling o'er the lea," and the 
cheerful ditties of the milk-maid, have been fa- 
vourite themes with English poets ; but the union 
of voices in harmony gives a refinement to the 
character of the music, which does not belong to 
the strains of our rural population. I believe we 
associate images with rustic songs which do not 
in fact belong to them, and that the best effects of 



LETTEES FKOM HOFWYL. 81 

vocal music are yet unknown to our peasantry. 
A great step has been made by the adoption of 
Mr. Hullah's method for teaching schools, and it 
is fair to expect that the next twenty years will 
evince the value of music as an adjunct in edu- 
cation.* 

I shall conclude this letter with an extract 
from the report made to l'Academie Agricole, 
Manufacturiere et Commerciale, by M. Raymond 
de Vericceur, who, in 1835, was deputed by that 
society to convey to M. de Fellenberg the hono- 
rary medal they had voted him. M. de Vericceur 
resided at Hofwyl for fifteen months, and framed 
the report I allude to. He says, " One cannot 
inhabit Hofwyl and not speak of the simple and 
pure lives of the patriot founder and his family ; 
his paternal care; his endeavours to propagate the 
knowledge of, the taste for, and the habits of 
virtue ; the persuasive influence of example ; the 
amenity which wins the heart; the discernment 
which enables him to judge of men, and to appoint 
those to the situations for which they are best 
fitted. One must follow M. de Fellenberg, as I 
have been permitted to do, into private life. I 

* A recent letter from one of my sons has this passage : " I 
do not think I should like Hofwyl so well, if it were not for the 
music." 

E 5 



82 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

would desire to give some idea of the patriarchal 
union of this family ; happy in their occupations, 
their duties, and their pleasures, all of which are 
in accordance with the Divine laws. I would 
desire to show the heart of the just in the midst 
of human vicissitudes, shedding happiness, resig- 
nation, fortitude, and peace upon all around him. 
I would, in short, desire, by the simple language 
of truth, to vivify similar sentiments in the minds 
of others, to enlighten those who live in ignorance 
of such feelings, and thus perhaps to induce some 
amongst us to pursue the path to the real, the 
only true happiness which results from a harmony 
between our passions, our habits, and our duties ; 
but I pause before a field so rich, so fruitful. 
It is sufficient to visit Hofwyl, in order to aAvaken 
a sympathy for what is good, great, and beautiful ! 
The tree is judged by its fruit ; judge the pro- 
prietor by his works, and you cannot refuse him 
your admiration and your gratitude." 
Cordially uniting in these sentiments, 
I remain 

Yours, &c. 



LETTERS PROM HOPWYL. 83 



LETTER VII. 

Perhaps the most striking part of the Hofwyl 
education is the moral training. M. de Fellenberg 
has not regarded education as instruction : he con- 
siders the life of man as a long course of edu- 
cation, a preparation for hereafter ; and he regards 
childhood and youth as the period when the 
mind and character are to be submitted to an 
especial control, to a direction which shall sur- 
round the individual with moral influences, and 
protect him from all that has an opposite ten- 
dency. The systems of reward and punishment, 
common to the prevailing systems of education, 
are not the means adopted by M. de Fellenberg. 
Every thing at Hofwyl is arranged so as to tend 
to one and the same object, i. e. moral influence. 
There is a protection from evil, and a guidance 
towards what is good, which, though unseen and 
unacknowledged by the inexperienced pupils, is 
gradually and continually producing effect upon 
character and conduct. The principles which have 
guided M. de Fellenberg are founded upon the 
nature of man, his connection with external nature, 
his relations with his fellow beings, and his immortal 
e 6 



84 LETTERS PROM HOFWYL. 

destiny. Acknowledging the existence of certain 
faculties, he regards their development as a duty 
imposed upon the educator by the Creator, who 
formed them in his infinite wisdom and benevo- 
lence for the production of good. He looks upon 
mankind as one great family, wherein the indivi- 
dual benefit cannot be separated from the general 
welfare ; and he acts on the principle, that by indi- 
vidual amendment the general reformation will be 
secured. At Hofwyl, therefore, we find provi- 
sion made for the development of every part of 
human character combined into one great whole ; 
the intellectual advancement strengthening the 
moral progress ; the religious and moral virtues 
sanctifying, supporting, and adorning intellectual 
strength ; while the physical powers are fortified 
and confirmed, in order that the moral and mental 
forces may effect their purposes with all the 
vigour of a healthy action. 

While every means are adopted to establish a 
;noral influence, the exclusion of every influence 
tending towards evil is carefully aimed at. M. 
de Fellenberg considers the powers of children as 
weak, and endeavours to apportion their trials and 
temptations to their powers of forbearance and 
resistance. They are guarded from vice and im- 
puritv, and from all familiarity with what may 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 85 

corrupt the heart, undermine principle, or deceive 
the judgment, — from all the sophisms and de- 
ceitfulness with which vice or self-indulgence 
deceives the unsuspecting and the inexperienced ; 
but he does not desire to shut out all experience 
of the consequences of error. You will perceive 
that I allude to the distinction between external 
influence and internal impulse. The former, if 
evil, is shut out as much as possible, and thus the 
latter is less difficult to regulate. In the con- 
versations I have with him, he makes frequent 
allusions to the necessity of patiently bearing with 
the repetition of the same fault, and of the ad- 
vantage of continual representations on the same 
subject — on apprend a marcher en tombant ; 
and so must it be with the moral advancement. 
The value of patience and hopeful perseverance 
is inestimable in the educator. 

The nature of the occupations, the regularity 
and the certainty which belong to all the arrange- 
ments of Hofwyl, are amongst the best of its 
influences ; they unquestionably appertain to the 
machinery of education ; but while habits continue 
to exert so vast a power over human nature, there 
must be routine, and the routine adopted should 
be that which will ensure the purest habits of 
thought and action. You remember Madame 



86 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

Necker de Saussure's remark upon the advantages 
of regular habits : " Respect for fixed plans and 
settled hours is a social principle, without which 
we cannot agree with our fellow-creatures. It is 
even an advantage in solitude. The regular re- 
turn of the same occupations has a certain charm ; 
it produces the effect of rhythm in music, and 
gently marks the course of time." The ancients 
represented the hours as graceful divinities, dancing 
hand in hand. I need scarcely observe that the 
association of different minds will have an effect 
upon character, or that the communion between 
the pupils must tend to produce circumstances 
which lead to experience. While the watchful- 
ness exercised over conduct and conversation ex- 
tends to the prevention of whatever can injure, 
morally, mentally, or physically, it does not 
shut out those exhibitions of natural feeling which, 
when judiciously treated, are all helps in edu- 
cation. In the little world of Hofwyl, the weak- 
nesses and defects of character, the pride, the 
vanity, the tyranny, or the selfishness of human 
nature, show themselves in some of their nu- 
merous forms ; but they are converted into en- 
gines of ultimate benefit. To direct, to guide, 
to form — not to crush and eradicate the original 
character, is, according to M. de Fellenberg, the 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 87 

part of the educator. The qualities of every 
uiind are bad only when excessive or defective, 
or relatively ill-balanced. An excess of firmness 
is obstinacy ; a deficiency, infirmity of purpose. 
Excessive prudence degenerates into timidity ; a 
want of it, constitutes rashness. Self-respect may 
rise into pride, or fall into a loss of the self-con- 
fidence necessary to success. Natural character 
cannot be eradicated, but faults may be kept in 
subjection by the predominance of better feelings. 
The influence of public opinion is often an aid to 
better motives. At Hofwyl, therefore, character 
is allowed to display itself, and to have its effect. 
Thus the tyrannically disposed will be known, 
even though the weak are protected from the evils 
of tyranny ; the passionate, the timid, the idle, 
the discontented, the conceited, manifest their 
several dispositions, and sooner or later find their 
true place in the estimation of their fellows.* 
Yet such qualities are not made obvious by the 
treatment of the masters, as you will see when I 
come to speak of punishment. 

* The system pursued at Hofwyl affords in many respects a 
practical illustration of the Rev. Sidney Smith's definition 
of " the best education," in the article on public schools, already 
quoted : " The vital and essential part of a school is the 
master ; but, at a public school, no boy, or at the best only a 
very few, can see enough of him ^to derive any considerable 



88 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

The masters, who reside constantly with the 
pupils, are trained to be educators : many of them 



benefit from his character, manners, and information. It is 
certainly of eminent use, particularly to a young man of rank, 
that he should have lived among boys, but it is only so -when 
they are all moderately watched by some superior understanding. 
The morality of boys is generally very imperfect, their notions 
of honour extremely mistaken, and their objects of ambition 
frequently very absurd. The probability then is, that the kind 
of discipline they exercise over each other will produce (when 
left to itself) a great deal of mischief ; and yet this is the dis- 
cipline to which every child at a public school is not only 
necessarily exposed, but principally confined. 

" We have no hesitation, however, in saying that that education 
seems to us to be the best which mingles a domestic with a 
school life, and which gives to a youth the advantage which is 
to be derived from the learning of a master, and the emulation 
which results from the society of other boys, together with the 
affectionate vigilance which he must experience in the house of 
his parents. But where this species of education from pecu- 
liarity of circumstances or situation is not attainable, we are 
disposed to think a society of twenty or thirty boys under the 
guidance of a learned man, and above all, of a man of good sense, 
to be a seminary the best adapted for the education of youth. 
The numbers are sufficient to excite a considerable degree of 
emulation, to give to a boy some insight into the diversities of 
human character, and to subject him to the observation and 
control of his superiors. It by no means follows that a 
judicious man should always interfere with his authority and 
advice, because he has always the means ; he may connive at 
many things which he cannot approve, and suffer some little 
failures to proceed to a certain extent, which if indulged in 
wider limits would be attended with irretrievable mischief; he 
will be aware that his object is to fit his pupil for the world, 
that constant control is a very bad preparation for complete 
emancipation from all control; that it is not bad policy to ex- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 89 

have been reared in the institution; they have 
studied the best means of developing character, 
and are able to avail themselves of every circum- 
stance which can aid their object. M. de Fellen- 
berg regards the educator as the representative of 
the parent, and as such provides for the welfare 
of his adopted children. The interests he takes 
in every occurrence, the importance he attaches 
to all the details of his great design, inspires his 
assistants with a carefulness and an activity which 
ensure success. " Le devoir avant tout " is a 
principle upon which he desires them to act: 
there are no evidences of the hireling ; a strong 
sense of the sacred character of their calling, an 
earnest but humble adoption of the spirit which 
dictated the invitation to " little children," appear 
to inspire those who watch over the youth of 
Hofwyl. I think I have already told you that 
although there are twenty-six professors, there are 
only eight who live with the pupils of the high 
school, or have any charge over conduct. M. de 
Fellenberg conceives that a good classical or 
French master is not necessarily a good educator ; 



pose a young man, under the eye of superior -wisdom/to some 
of those dangers which will assail him hereafter in greater num- 
ber, and in greater strength, when he has only his own resources 
to depend upon." 



90 LETTERS FROM HOPWYL. 

he may give the best possible instruction in his 
particular department, but he may have habits, or 
even peculiarities of manner, which are not de- 
sirable examples for youth. Many of the teachers 
at Hofwyl only associate with the pupils while 
giving them a certain lesson, and have no commu- 
nication with them at other times, further than the 
mutual interchange of the civilities of life, when 
they meet casually. The general probity and kind- 
ness of the masters secure to them the respect and 
confidence of their pupils. The wholesome restraint 
they exercise produces neither fear nor hypocrisy ; 
the presence of one in authority has the effect of 
indirectly checking the propensity to error, and 
it often happens that a gentle remonstrance, a 
word of advice, or a mere hint, assists a child to 
conquer himself, by thus reminding him of his 
natural weakness. When looking on, during a 
general game, in which some of the masters join 
(rounders I think the English boys called it), I 
have observed that while there is perfect freedom, 
there is none of the licence which would cha- 
racterise the sport of boys happy to escape 
from unjust or injudicious restraint. Yet the 
masters assume no authority ; it is evidently the 
character of the individuals, not their position, 
which preserves them from the consequences the 



LETTEKS FKOM HOFWYL. 91 

proverb ascribes to familiarity. One afternoon, 
when the boys of the high school were playing 
one of these games in all the noise and vigour of 
joyous and healthy relaxation, M. de Fellenberg 
and his daughter returned in the carriage from 
Berne. The play ground, as I have told you, is 
in front of the Grande Maison, and as the carriage 
drove up, the boys unanimously and spontaneously 
discontinued their sport until M. and Miss de 
Fellenberg had entered the house. In this at- 
tention there was no servility ; it .was evidently the 
willing homage of respect. 

Before we visited Hofwyl, our natural anxiety 
for the welfare of our children had been somewhat 
heightened by reports calculated to prejudice us 
against the institution, attributing injustice, 
severity, and tyrannical supervision to M. de 
Fellenberg, These statements were certainly 
sufficiently vague and unsupported ; yet, such as 
they were, justice to ourselves, to our children, and 
to their educators, demanded their investigation. 
Our own observation have enabled us in many 
instances to decide that the charges are wholly 
without foundation, or have arisen from miscon- 
ception or insufficient investigation: we have 
questioned many of the pupils, and their testimony 
is entirely satisfactory ; and we have conversed 



92 LETTEKS FROM HOEWYL. 

freely with M. de Fellenberg, who has treated the 
subject with the greatest candour, affording us 
every explanation. I have good grounds for 
believing that many pupils have been sent to 
Hofwyl with minds and habits much perverted ; 
that, impatient of the superintendence (which in 
such cases is strict and continual), their represent- 
ations have been coloured by their own way- 
ward feelings ; measures needful in an individual 
case, to prevent evil influence and example, have 
been misrepresented as the regulations of the 
institution ; the most contemptible espionage 
have been attributed to the masters, and to M. 
de Fellenberg. We are living in the midst of the 
institution, having access to all parts of the 
establishment, communicating freely with the 
pupils and the masters, and in no one instance 
have we found these charges borne out by fact. 

I know no more convincing proof of the real 
freedom, the wise liberty, these lads enjoy, than 
their open fearless manner: they are always at 
their ease ; they know exactly what may and may 
not be done : none of the natural evidences of 
health and activity are denied them ; they move 
about the house with the firm step and the cheer- 
ful voice which would characterise them at home, 
neither apprehensive of being seen or heard. The 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 93 

hours of the day which terminate their different 
studies are as regularly marked by their noisy 
sounds of mirth, as by the striking of the clocks. 
They meet their masters, M. de Fellenberg him- 
self, and the members of his family, with the 
respect, the frankness, and the confidence which 
mark the consciousness of right intention on the 
one side, and the just but gentle exercise of 
authority on the other. 

The deference thus shown is not purchased by 
false indulgence, or by what may be termed 
personal influence. The obedience, or the good 
conduct, which springs solely from the desire 
to please one who is loved, is not placed on a 
safe basis. Remove the stimulus, and the prin- 
ciple is also in danger of being removed. To 
do well because one loves an individual, is a 
more amiable impulse, and more enduring, than 
the well-doing which is dictated by fear ; but 
it is still an impulse, rather than a principle of 
action. The motives must be higher than these. 
The influence M. de Fellenberg would establish is 
not grounded upon his personal influence with the 
pupils: he does not court their regard; he does 
not seek to win affection by showing himself, as 
he is, the fountain from whence flow all the 
advantages, the comforts, the pleasures of the 



94 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

institution. On the contrary, he reserves to 
himself the most obnoxious office, that of the 
judge ; because he will not expose the masters 
in their intercourse with the pupils to risk any 
suspicion of injustice or imputation of favouritism, 
nor even to incur the danger of erroneous judg- 
ment, or the consequences of temporary irritation. 
He one day told me that he had resolved in 
all cases to take upon himself the painful 
business of reproof and correction ; and although 
he was aware that he therefore appeared in a less 
favourable light to his adopted children, he must 
submit to make a sacrifice which involved only 
his own personal feelings. 

It is difficult for youth to understand the 
affection which chasteneth whom it loveth ; 
surely there is no greater evidence of love than 
such self-denial. I have always considered that 
the parental affection of Abraham was almost as 
remarkable as his faith. He did not endeavour 
to spare his child the trial which the Lord 
appointed, although he saved him from the 
misery of anticipation : the filial submission of 
Isaac, his confidence in the wisdom of his father, 
are equally worthy of remark. It is not too 
much to infer that the self-denial practised by 
Abraham was not suddenly assumed; it must 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 95 

have characterised the whole of his intercourse 
with " his son, his only son Isaac," and ensured 
the perfect obedience of that son in the hour 
when it was so greatly needed. The faith of the 
parent was reflected in that of the child. 

At nine o'clock every night M. de Fellenberg 
holds what is termed the assembly : its principal 
object is to review the events of the day. The 
faults which have been committed, and which are 
known only to the master in whose presence they 
have occurred, or to whom they have otherwise 
become known, to M. de Fellenberg and the erring 
pupil himself, are pointed at without immediate 
allusion to the erring individual: he is left to 
apply the remarks; and thus the power of 
conscience is alone appealed to; he is not held 
up to public disgrace ; the nice sense of shame 
is preserved, and the danger of hardening the 
heart avoided. The errors which are universally 
known are generally commented upon, and the 
parties addressed before the assembly; though 
even these are not always reprobated with the 
names of the parties ; and it has often occurred 
that even where individuals have only been 
suspected, and where no direct charge could be 
brought, the culprit has voluntarily made his 
confession to M. de Fellenberg, or a master. 



96 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

When all has gone well, M. cle Fellenberg speaks 
to them upon various topics, not always confining 
himself to grave subjects. The assembly is 
contemplated with pain by those only whose 
consciences are ill at ease. M. de Fellenberg 
frequently expostulates privately with the pupils, 
appealing to their reason, their filial piety, their 
religious and social duties ; but he does not 
confine this individual intercourse to those who 
need correction: all who desire it have access 
to him, when they desire it, at the hours when 
he is understood to be at liberty to receive 
them ; and he is ready to hear any complaints 
they may have, or think they have, to prefer 
against their masters. 

The head master occasionally holds the as- 
sembly, and one of the ladies fulfils the office 
towards the little English boys until they have 
acquired enough German to attend the general 
meeting. 

In connection with this part of the subject, I 
may here add, that M. de Fellenberg has often in 
conversation alluded to the spirit of discontent, 
rather than the unselfish aspirations after freedom, 
which so generally marks political commotion 
and the desire of political changes. He attributes 
many of the evils of the present state of European 



LETTERS FEOM HOFWTL. 97 

society to the want of that training which shall 
make every individual submissive to the will of 
God. He desires to see a mingled spirit of content 
and improvement ; and while there shall be a con- 
stant endeavour to fulfil in the best way the duties 
of life, in whatever situation, the efforts towards 
progress shall not be the result of discontent, 
factious opposition, or restless irritation against 
authority, power, or rank; but founded upon 
the desire to do right, to advance individual 
interests, in the spirit of the command, "Love 
one another," and to submit to the superior 
wisdom of God, in the spirit which the Gospel 
inculcates. 

Amongst English boys he is especially struck 
with the indifference to parental authority, and 
to the authority delegated by parents to the 
educator ; a fault still more marked amongst the 
Americans. This disregard is not the result of a 
feeling of real independence, but the commence- 
ment of that want of submission both towards 
God and man which is so fertile a cause of 
social evil and irreligion. I subjoin a letter 
addressed by M. de Fellenberg to the editor of 
the " Annals of Education in America." It is in 
every way an important document, since it not 
only enforces the principles which have guided 
F 



98 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

M. de Fellenberg in the establishment of the 
high school, but it also confirms an opinion now 
becoming much more general, that the character 
of the educator is ill understood in this country. 

To the Editor of the " American Annals of 

Education" 
Sir, 
The account you have given of my system of 
education, and of my Establishments, in the 
" American Annals of Education," presents the 
most complete view which has yet appeared of 
my plans, and of the means which I employ for 
their accomplishment; and the numerous in- 
quiries addressed to me in consequence show me 
how extensively your work is circulated in the 
Old and New World. I venture, therefore, to 
request that you will allow me to have recourse 
to it, in order to avert a danger to which we are 
exposed by an opinion to which this account 
appears to have given rise. 

It would seem that it has inspired the hope that 
we can accomplish miracles, and remedy the evils 
resulting from all the mistakes which are still com- 
mitted in education, even in the most civilised na- 
tions. The increasing number of requests which 
are made to me to receive pupils who were spoiled 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 99 

even to the foundations of their character, and 
sometimes in their morals, long before the idea was 
conceived of sending them to Hofwyl, obliges me to 
protest publicly against applications of this nature. 
These institutions ought to be preserved as an 
asylum, destined to receive, and educate in the best 
manner, children who still resemble those of whom 
our Saviour said, " of such is the kingdom of 
Heaven," and whom he deemed worthy of his 
blessing. Hofwyl should not be regarded as a hos- 
pital for the cure of all those moral diseases which 
are the necessary results of the errors of the middle 
ages, propagated from generation to generation to 
the present day; or of those produced by the 
faults of modern civilisation. The amalgamation 
of these faults with ancient errors, only renders 
more dangerous the characteristic evils of insti- 
tutions that persevere in those false principles 
which their predecessors have transmitted to suc- 
ceeding ages as a pious and unalienable legacy. It 
is desirable, therefore, to make it generally known 
that I have excluded from my establishments 
many youths corrupted in this unhappy manner ; 
and that matured experience obliges me to refuse, 
with increasing precision, all pupils from foreign 
schools, for whom application is made. 

I have too often discovered that it is impos- 
F 2 



100 LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 

sible for the pupils of institutions such as I have 
described, to comprehend, nay, to avoid misappre- 
hending the philanthropic character of Hofwyl, 
after having been accustomed to consider as 
tyrants, or as upper servants of their parents, the 
instructors whom they ought to respect and love as 
their second fathers, or their best friends. Pupils 
of this character have become completely strangers 
to that filial piety towards their guardians which 
niy establishments ought to preserve conscien- 
tiously, and to cultivate with the greatest care. 
They consider teachers and pupils as opposite 
parties, with distinct interests, or, at best, as 
rulers and subjects; the former seeking for 
power, and the latter having the right of resist- 
ance. They cannot understand our desire to act 
as parents, who seek to direct and restrain their 
children, in order to improve their character, and 
secure their happiness. They attribute to the 
lowest or the most sordid motives all that is done to 
furnish an education truly Christian and entirely 
disinterested ; an education liberally provided for, 
in reference both to science and the arts. Pupils 
of this character often find their greatest pleasure 
in defeating all the efforts which are made for 
their improvement, instead of co-operating with 
them, and considering their own best interests 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 101 

as indentified with the success of their teachers. 
In this manner the purest atmosphere becomes 
infected by the very individuals on whom its 
purity ought to exert the most salutary influences 
In too many eases the children who are sent 
to us appear to have learned more of religious 
forms and opinions than .of the true spirit of 
the Gospel. They do not seem to imagine that 
religion has anything to do with education. It 
appears strange to them that the Bible should be 
a subject of study in school ; and some are even 
disposed to ridicule the idea of lessons on the truths 
of religion, and the duties it imposes. They are 
not sensible of any obligation to obey the precepts 
of our Saviour in the daily concerns of life, and in 
all then intercourse with their fellow-men, and 
especially in that which exists between teachers 
and pupils; and their consciences appear to be 
inaccessible to the representations which are made 
to them on this subject. They seem to under- 
stand only positive laws and arbitrary punish- 
ments ; and if they have not openly transgressed 
such laws, they consider themselves innocent, 
however great the pain they may have caused 
to others, however serious the disorder they have 
introduced, in direct contravention of that great 
precept of Christ, « Do unto others as ye would 
p 3 



102 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

that others should do unto you." They think, 
very often, that their educators have no concern 
with anything but their external acts, — that they 
have nothing to do with their character and feel- 
ings, however perverted they may be, and con- 
sider it enough if they " break no rules." 

Such pupils regard their comrades either as 
strangers, towards whom they have no duty of 
Christian kindness to fulfil, or as rivals that excite 
their jealousy, with the exception of those whom 
they endeavour to gain as friends, or, rather, as 
accomplices. They are, therefore, equally in- 
capable of understanding that spirit of fraternal 
kindness and mutual aid which we endeavour to 
cultivate among them, as members of one family. 
The studies of those who are thus perverted, have 
become mere sources of torment to them, — ap- 
parently in consequence of defective methods of 
instruction, and the arbitrary discipline by which 
they were enforced, — instead of being, as they 
should be, their greatest pleasure. Their comrades 
who are less perverted, appear to them only as 
spies, as traitors to their party, whom they think 
it necessary to restrain by threats, if they are in- 
accessible to corruption. 

Such pernicious perversions of mind and heart 
ought to be unknown here. Hofywl ought to 



LETTERS FEOil HOEWYL. 103 

maintain the character imposed by its original 
design. Its atmosphere ought to be kept pure, 
and every individual should be excluded who can- 
not appreciate its character. It is only in this 
way that the object of all my efforts can be 
accomplished — in a course of action which is 
incomprehensible to those who are actuated by 
considerations purely mercantile, and are faithless 
in regard to all those virtues which give the only 
permanent value to human life. 

"We shall, therefore, receive at Hofwyl only 
those children for whose purity and truth, and 
simplicity of character, we are furnished with the 
most satisfactory assurances, as well as for the co- 
operation of their parents in the accomplishment 
of our task. Every one that is brought to us 
without fulfilling these conditions will be ex- 
cluded from my institutions, without regard to the 
distance he has come, unless substantial reasons 
can be given for subjecting him to atrial (quaran- 
tine) sufficient to enable us to judge of the expe- 
diency of receiving him.* 



* In 1819, numerous applications from German students 
(more than forty at one time) to attend the course of agriculture, 
which involved similar dangers, rendered it necessary to publish 
a similar caution, and to exclude all who had not received their 
preparatory education at Hofwyl. 

F 4 



104 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

You will oblige me very much, Sir, by in- 
serting this statement, or something equivalent 
to it, in the " Annals," and by procuring its re- 
publication in the papers which have spoken of 
my establishment. 

I am, Sir, with great esteem, 

Most sincerely yours, 

Emanuel Fellenberg. 

Hofwy], June 13th, 1836. 

I doubt not you can recall as readily as myself 
many instances of parents openly joining in or 
abetting the ridicule, and, I fear I must add, 
the petty deceits practised by boys towards and 
upon their masters ; and when we consider the 
indulgences heaped upon children during the 
holidays, because (as it is acknowledged) they 
are so hardly off at school, it can be no mat- 
ter of surprise that they regard their masters 
as tyrants and tormentors, whom they have a 
right to deceive, to dread, and to despise. I do 
not mean to deny that there are many persons 
assuming the office of educators who from cha- 
racter and habits are totally unfit for their calling, 
and that this side of the question demands reform 
quite as much as the other ; but it may fairly be 
asked, " If the master be unworthy of respect, 



EETTEES FKOM HOFWYL. 105 

why place under his care a child for whose 
training the parent is responsible to God ? " 

There are few English boys who go to Hofwyl 
wholly free from such mischievous sentiments 
towards the profession and character of an edu- 
cator ; those who have never been to school have 
had some communication with school-boys, and 
listened to the terms in which they speak of their 
masters. I have witnessed the ill effects thus 
produced, and am convinced that it is one of the 
greatest obstacles to the improvement of character, 
that it retards more or less the efforts of all the 
professors, and that the utmost vigilance is re- 
quired to prevent the contagion of a disposition 
so opposed to the best principle of education — 
namely, the paternal character and office of the 
educator, and that obedience which should be 
given in the spirit of the fifth commandment, and 
of Him " who was subject unto his parents." 

M. de Fellenberg, in accordance with the state- 
ments in the above letter, has frequently felt it 
his duty to decline pupils who, from then age and 
the circumstances of their previous life, have 
appeared likely to prove -unfit associates for the 
children under his care. In some instances he 
has been impelled by the desire and the hope of 
doing good, to undertake the charge of some who 
f 5 



106 LETTERS PROM HOFWYL. 

seemed to afford a prospect of cure, and he has 
occasionally been rewarded by success ; but there 
have been cases when, to ensure the moral safety 
of the other boys, he has been obliged to insist 
upon the removal of lads whose early habits ren- 
dered them incapable of comprehending or ful- 
filling the duties required of them, and whose 
parents would not co-operate with him in his 
plans for their reformation. In such cases there 
is no expulsion. M. de Fellenberg alone knows 
the real state of the case : every other person, often 
even the pupil himself, supposes that his parents 
have voluntarily taken him away. I have reason 
to believe that an equal generosity has not always 
been observed towards M. de Fellenberg, and that 
evil reports, and unfounded charges and com- 
plaints, have been industriously circulated to the 
prejudice of the institution and its founder, by 
those who have felt mortified at his decisions. 

I do not know whether I have yet told you 
that M. de Fellenberg no longer takes any part 
in the special instruction. He receives every 
evening a report from the head master, which 
puts him in possession of any circumstance in 
conduct requiring observation ; and this report 
takes cognisance of the actions of the masters 
also. The various professors also communicate 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 107 

from time to time the progress of each pupil in 
the several branches of study, and their observa- 
tions upon the nature of the intellect. I have 
already remarked upon the comprehensive power 
of M. de Fellenberg's mind ; he has also a keen 
insight into character, and from long habits 
of observation, as well as natural perception, 
obtains evidence and draws conclusions from those 
apparent trifles which make up the sum of cha- 
racter ; these indications he regards as the guides 
which are to aid the educator, first in the disco- 
very of, and next in the development of individual 
character. 

"> His great rule of conduct is to respect the 
individuality of his pupils. Adopting the prin- 
ciple, that Providence indicates the destination of 
a child by the faculties it has bestowed upon him, 
he considers the educator ought not to presume 
to change, according to his own narrow views, 
that which the Creator has in his supreme wisdom 
designed." In order to carry out this principle, 
the evidences of that individuality must be ob- 
tained, by a careful observation of the traits 
which are elicited in daily life ; and the pupil must 
be allowed the fair and honest freedom which 
will secure him from hypocrisy or opposition. 
f 6 



108 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

There must be no subserviency to systems or 
theories, since there can be no infallible and 
unique method of governing and forming a cre- 
ation of such variety and delicacy as the human 
mind. But while a slavish subjection to system 
is repudiated at Hofwyl, the advantages of ex- 
perience are not excluded; whatever is good in 
modern methods is adopted, whenever and where- 
ever advantage can accrue from its application. 
M. de Fellenberg is in constant correspondence 
with persons engaged or interested in education ; 
and he has at this time efficient persons travelling 
in various parts of Europe at his expense, for the 
sole purpose of ascertaining what is going on 
elsewhere, and of securing for the service of 
Hofwyl any professors or individuals otherwise 
devoted to science, literature, or ethics, who are 
likely to advance the efficiency of the institution. 
The more we consider the character of the 
educator, the deeper grows the conviction that it 
should take for its example the providential care 
of the Universal Father : the trials and tempta- 
tions of children should be tempered like the wind 
to the shorn lamb ; the repetition of errors borne 
with the patience of Him who long suffered the 
rebellions of those who did not know his ways ; 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 109 

while virtue should be fostered with the faith 
inspired by the declaration, that " man was 
made in the image of God." It should cheer the 
arduous duties of the educator to reflect, that He 
Avho came to save, also came to teach. 



110 LETTEE8 FROM HOFWYL. 



LETTER VIII. 

I sit down full of the impressions made upon me 
by my first Sunday at Hofwyl. The quietude 
of the place in the early morning was the same 
as the tranquillity of the country in England. 
We were given to understand that the Catholic 
service took place at eight in the morning, the 
Protestant at eleven, and that until that hour the 
boys of all the schools would be occupied. They 
rise an hour later on the Sunday morning, and 
many of them employ a part of the day in writing 
to their friends, a duty which is estimated amongst 
those acts of filial piety which hallow the day 
of rest. In English schools, where the parents 
live near, the boys usually pass the Sunday at 
home ; at Hofwyl they write home : they are not 
obliged, but encouraged to do this. 

The windows of some of the class-rooms of the 
Real Schule are opposite to those of our apart- 
ments in the Lehrer Haus, and about two hundred 
yards distant. The morning was very fine, and we 
were enjoying the calm repose of the scene, — the 
fertility around us, associated, as it was, with a 
still higher cultivation, — the distant view of the 



LETTERS EROM HOFWYL, 111 

Alps on the one side, and of the blue Jura on the 
other, — when suddenly the mingled voices of the 
Real Schulers broke upon the universal stillness. 
They sang a slow and simple hymn, without 
any accompaniment, their voices blending in the 
most perfect harmony. I have often listened 
with intense delight to the finest vocal music, but 
I never was more touched than on this occasion. 
The effect of the village sabbath-bells has been 
beautifully told by our poets, but this vocal 
ushering in of the day of rest appeared to me a 
more perfect emblem of devotion, cheerfulness, 
and brotherly love, of the " peace on earth, and 
good will towards men," which was proclaimed 
by angels' voices, and which it should be the high 
aim of every Christian education to promote and 
cherish. 

At eleven o'clock we joined the Protestant con- 
gregation assembled in the two apartments men- 
tioned in a former letter, where public worship is 
performed. At the top of the upper room is the 
pulpit, a plain black-marble altar, and an organ 
with a large closed closet, which I presume held 
the vessels, &c. which belong to the Catholic ce- 
remonies. On each side were rows of benches 
occupied by the younger pupils of the three schools, 
with some of the masters, the female members of 



112 LETTERS EROM HOFWYL. 

M. de F.'s family, with the other Protestant inha- 
bitants of Hofwyl. In the other room were M. 
de F., the professors, and the elder pupils of the 
high and real schule. The service opened with a 
hymn, sung by the whole congregation, and ac- 
companied by the organ, followed by the Lord's 
prayer, and another prayer: a portion of the 
Scriptures was next read ; then a discourse, or 
sermon, followed by a prayer and a hymn : prayer 
concluded the service. The whole of the obser- 
vances reminded me of the presbyterian form 
of the Scottish kirk. The spirit of toleration is 
practically inculcated at Hofwyl. The Pro- 
testant and Catholic clergymen dwell together 
in peace, each instructing his own flock: there 
has not been a single instance of conversion 
to either mode of belief during the whole period 
of the existence of the institution ; nor is there 
any evidence of bigotry or dissension. 

We had been invited to dine at the Grande 
Maison ; and having assembled in the saloon, a bell 
rung in the house, soon after twelve, invited us 
to the dining-room. The table crosses the top 
and occupies the sides of the apartment ; at the 
bottom, on one side of the door, is a closet di- 
vided into small numbered compartments; these 
each contain a dinner napkin, which belongs to the 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 113 

boy whose number* corresponds with that on the 
division. On the other side of the door is the closet 
into which the dishes ascend from the kitchen. 
M. de Fellenberg sat in the middle of the cross 
table ; his eldest daughter and some of the elder 
lads opposite to him; the Protestant clergyman on 
his right, the Catholic on his left hand. His 
younger daughters were surrounded by the little 
boys at the table on the right hand, with the head 
master and his wife ; while on the left were seated 
M. and Madame E. de Fellenberg, with the rest 
of the pupils. Having all assembled and placed 
ourselves, the dinner was put on table, and one of 
the clergymen said grace. The food was excel- 
lently dressed, of the best quality, and ample in 
quantity. 

Soup, beef, mutton, and veal, with potatoes, 
beans, peas, and lettuces, dressed in the Swiss 
-fashion, formed our meal ; after which, dishes of 
whipped cream, strawberries, cherries, and cakes 
or biscuits of pastry were served. I afterwards 
found that fruit was provided every day with the 
same unsparing abundance. I observed a dish of 
fish, which I understood had been taken in the lake, 

* This plan of giving every boy a number is applied to seve- 
ral of the arrangements ; every letter put into the bureau for 
post has the number of the writer on the corner ; the clothes 
are numbered, and so on, 



114 LETTERS FEOM HOFWYL. 

on the Saturday afternoon, by the fishing party ; 
the catch is always dressed on Sunday. I mention 
this as one of the trifles which attest the minute 
attention to all that may gratify the boys. "Were 
they at home, no more could be done than this to 
please the fortunate angler. The wine stood on 
the table, to which the boys helped themselves as 
they pleased. Do not be alarmed at this liberty ; 
although I admit there is something startling in 
the idea that boys may drink as much wine as 
they like. Although much better than the usual 
vin ordinaire, the wines served at Hofwyl are 
still very weak, compared to those drank in Eng- 
land. The appetites are not to be destroyed, 
but governed ; and under wise direction may be 
converted into a means of education. On their 
first introduction at Hofwyl, boys have been 
known to abuse the freedom granted with regard 
to wine, either because they think it manly, 
(intemperance of all kinds is often so viewed by 
English boys,) because they are accustomed to 
regard wine as a luxury which tempts to indul- 
gence, or perhaps from mere thoughtlessness. Let 
me observe that there is no approach to intoxica- 
tion; excess may be committed without this result. 
Whatever may be the cause, the propensity is 
immediately perceived, and M. de F. privately 



LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 115 

points out to the boy the reasons why he should 
restrain his inclinations ; he explains the distinc- 
tion between a rational and natural indulgence of 
the appetite, and its abuse ; and he cautions the 
lad against excess, but no restrictions are put 
upon him : perhaps it is necessary to repeat the 
caution again and again, but at table no notice is 
taken of his conduct. He soon perceives that his 
companions act rationally, and that his love of 
wine, real or affected, gains him no credit with 
them, but rather the contrary : he is not provoked 
by opposition or restraint to have his own way, or 
to practise deception ; he soon uses the comforts 
provided for him as a means of satisfying his 
thirst; he becomes perfectly temperate, and wine 
offers him no temptation. This is one of the cir- 
cumstances in which there is so judicious a min- 
gling of freedom and restraint. A boy is not 
prohibited by laws from drinking more than is 
good for him, but he is assisted and guided to 
the acquirement of the self-control which must 
be obtained ere he can meet the temptations 
of life. 

The abundant provision of fruit is considered 
favourable to health, and is also intended to pre- 
vent the temptation to purchase the trash which 
itinerant venders bring into the place. The con- 



116 LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 

stant habit of eating something, never allowing 
the digestive organs to repose, is injurious to them, 
and has a bad effect upon the mind, since there is 
a close connection between such habits and those 
of animals. The unrestrained gratification of any 
appetite insensibly leads to sensuality. As there 
is enough fruit of the best kind to be had at 
dinner or supper, and sometimes at both meals, 
the boys have less difficulty in withstanding the 
inclination to eat at irregular hours. During 
dinner or supper, M. de Fellenberg easily dis- 
covers who has thus been unwisely indulging, 
since the appetite for the meal is sure to fail ; and 
if this happens, he uses the same means as before, 
an appeal to the understanding, to correct the 
evil. If a failing appetite is not to be traced to 
this cause, M. de Fellenberg regards it as a sign 
of disordered health ; and should it continue for 
two or three days consecutively, the medical man, 
who visits the establishment daily, is desired to 
examine into the cause. 

But to return to our dinner. Conversation 
went on amongst all with the decorum which be- 
longs to good society ; and there was a general 
attention to propriety : the furniture of the table 
was as simple as in England, but some of the ob- 
servances different. All are obliged to sit down 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 117 

to table at the same moment, but each boy is 
permitted to rise and leave the room when he 
has finished his meal ; because M. de Fellenberg 
considers that if obliged to wait until all have 
concluded, there will be a temptation to go on 
eating after appetite is satisfied, for the sake of 
something to do. M. de Fellenberg remains at 
table till the last boy has left his place. I 
supped with the school on another evening, and 
found the same order of things as at dinner, 
with the exception that their beverage was beer, 
very similar to the Indian beer now so much 
used in England, the hop being of a less agreeable 
flavour. 

You are aware that Sunday even in the Pro- 
testant countries of Europe is not observed as 
in Great Britain.* At Hofwyl, the afternoon, 
when the service of the neighbouring churches is 
over, is passed in innocent and cheerful amuse^ 
ments : walking to some place of interest in the 
neighbourhood with the masters, rowing on the 
lake, and reading, are the principal diversions of 
the summer; in the winter, the lads pass the 

* " The views of the German Protestants with respect to 
the observance of the Sabbath date from the Reformation, and 
great numbers maintain it as a part of Christian duty not to be 
subject to what they deem a Jewish institution." 



118 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

evening alternately in the saloon or in the apart- 
ment of the head master and his wife. 

Sunday is but too often a day of irksome wea- 
riness to children, and is long associated in their 
minds with a sense of ennui, very different from 
the thankful spirit with which the day of rest 
should be received.* The best employment of 

* The following extract from a work which gives the history 
of the formation of a mind from boyhood to manhood, describes 
so vividly and truly this unfortunate ennui and tedium, that I 
venture to transcribe it for you, even at the risk of your being 
already well acquainted with it : — 

" At that time, unfortunately, I was no great venerator of the 
sabbath ; or, at all events, my veneration was of the very darkest 
and most dismal hue, untempered with a single gleam of love 
or joyousness. There was no recreation for me in its rest ; only 
an unquiet yawningness, a sickness of heart and stomach, a 
faintness of all my faculties, as though my veins were running 
with ditch-water ; an itching propensity to be at something, 
without the power to gratify it. I was not singular in my an- 
tipathy. The whole herd of us, great and small, learned and 
unlearned, were parties to it. Of all the painful inflictions of 
boyhood, I know hardly any worse than that of wading through 
the slough of Sunday. Surely it is a serious mistake to pre- 
tend to make the sabbath sacred by making the man idle — to 
relieve the labours of the week by the most racking of all ex- 
haustions, the exhaustion of listlessness. To set apart one day 
as consecrate to the Lord, and give that very day over to the 
devil, to sow in it his tares among the fruit of the week's in- 
dustry ; to propose to a set of boys, and to men equally destitute 
of all good resources, the alternative of indolence or mischeiv- 
ousness ; can it be that God is thus glorified, or religion ho- 
noured, or our Saviour commended to our love ? But religion 
must have its rights ; aye, I say, Amen ! its own rights, and 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 119 

the sabbath is a question which occasions much 
discussion in England : the great desideratum 
appears to me, to attain that happy medium which 
shall divest it of idleness, yet preserve its con- 
solatory character, the restoration to the spirit 
exhausted by the toils and troubles of the week. 
The different periods of life, and the different 
ranks of society, require a variety in the employ- 
ment of Sunday, as well as of the other days of 
the week : any regulation which should force all 



our affections into the bargain, in full and overflowing mea- 
sure. Let it have the duty of our devotion ; but when that is 
satisfied, let it also have the gratitude of our gladness. Mul- 
tiply, if you will, your preachers ; magnify your churches ; do 
everything, as rulers are bound to do, for the growth of grace, 
and the union of all hearts in true religion ; but then, when this 
is done, let the heart express itself; let nature have its course. 
Let the morn be ushered in and celebrated with all solemnity, 
but let gaiety and open gamesomeness, rather than secret 
debauchery, have their share in the after-day. So much for 
children ; and the same rule is a reasonable one for the poor 
man — the daily labourer: as for his rich neighbour, he needs 
no recreation ; but rather the contrast of earnest exercise as a 
relief to his week's idleness. The ideas of the uneducated man 
are few, his attention feeble, the compass of his mind narrow, 
his judgment unpractised and uncertain"; consequently his root 
is but seldom deep, his faculty of devotion is speedily exhausted; 
and so of the raw school-boy. Task him not beyond his strength ; 
when he has satisfied God's service, suffer him, in such sports 
as he likes best, to fulfil the season of his amusement, lest you 
cloud bis sabbath to dismalness, and make prayer itself hateful 
to him." 



120 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

into one routine does not appear to me consonant 
with the intentions of the benevolence which es- 
tablished the day of rest. I have often wished we 
could have a service fitted to the comprehension 
of children. * The minister who would devote one 
hour of the Sunday to so holy an office, would 
prevent more future sabbath-breaking than many 
laws will ever be able to effect. Prayer and 
thanksgiving would go hand in hand with the 
spirit of dependence, of love, and of gratitude, 
which are so strong in children's natures. These 
feelings have but to be awakened and directed : 
a child-loving preacher — one whose love, like that 
of his master, made him to know the hearts and 
understandings of his hearers — would secure their 
sympathy and attention, and make them " glad 
to go into the house of the Lord." 

Music appears to be amongst the most legiti- 
mate sources of gratification. I have already told 
you of the singing I heard on the Sunday morning, 
and I think I have also spoken of the monthly 
concerts. These are held on a Sunday evening, 
and we were present at one of them. We were 
invited to attend in the music-room at seven 
o'clock. The folding-doors which separate this 

* I have since learned that this has heen done at Brighton. 



LETTEKS FROM HOFWYL. 121 

apartment from the dining-room were thrown open, 
and ample space was thus afforded for the accom- 
modation of a large number of persons. On en- 
tering the dining-room we found it nearly filled 
with the audience, consisting of such masters and 
pupils of the three schools as took no share in the 
performance, the wives and children of some of 
the masters, the servants of the different esta- 
blishments, the guests then staying at the Leh- 
rer Haus, M. de Fellenberg, his daughters, son, 
and grand children. 

The orchestra consisted of violins, tenor, vio- 
loncello, double base, trombone, clarionet, flute, 
trumpet, French horn. The chorus-singers were 
arranged on each side of the room, a pianoforte 
in the midst. The bill of the concert included 
one of Haydn's symphonies, the movements of 
which were played at four separate periods of the 
concert ; an overture, composed by the conductor, 
who is the chief music-master; and a violin 
concerto, composed and played by another music- 
master. The choruses were from " Wilhelm Tell," 
"Mose in Egitto," and an oratario of Neukomm. 
Great attention was given to the music by the 
audience ; even the younger children were very 
quiet, evidently influenced by the general de- 
corum. Although it was apparent that the music 
G 



122 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

gave pleasure, there was no applause, as M. de 
Fellenberg considers that the young and inex- 
perienced can have no sound judgment, and 
therefore no authority to decide and approve 
publicly. When the concert was over, the per- 
formers adjourned to the saloon with the family 
and guests, and partook of tea, fruit, cakes, &c. 
These monthly concerts, with the rehearsals, form 
an admirable means of union amongst all ages and 
classes. I saw the son of a French noble singing 
in the choir, by the side of, and from the same 
book with, the son of a Swiss peasant. Many of 
the masters who were playing had been educated 
at Hofwyl, some of them pupils of the Rural 
School, whose talents, morals, and manners had 
raised them to these situations of trust and honour. 
More than 200 persons were assembled on this 
occasion, the inhabitants of Hofwyl, with the 
father of this large family in the midst of his 
adopted children. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 123 



LETTER IX. 

In order to put you in possession of the routine 
of instruction in the high school at Hofwyl, I 
transcribe three Stunden, or hour, plans : — 
No. 1. is the course which has been allotted to 
an English boy of about eleven years of age, on 
his arrival ; No. 2. to one who had been there 
a year ; and No. 3. to another pupil, in his 
third year. These plans are written by the 
head master, upon a paper engraved for the 
purpose; and after having been submitted to 
M. de Fellenberg, each boy pastes his plan upon 
his closet. As the holidays were approaching, 
the period was drawing near when the arrange- 
ment you now see would be altered. 

You will perceive that German occupies an 
important place in the new pupils' plan ; for this 
must first be acquired in order to enable the 
English boys to receive other lessons, all in- 
struction being conveyed in that language. As 
music, drawing, fencing, writing, and gymnastics 
do not require much verbal direction from the mas- 
ters, they are carried on from the commencement. 
I will just add, here, that the new English pupils 
G 2 



124 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 



•418 8.8:1 

CD %. %- u '— C 
fl 01 01 Bi DiC 



'H 3 

a .5 ea a 



SPng * 



<u 5 § sh <i> ss 



p p ~ -Op bo 

s s S.S « a 

Sh s- U oj Sh +3 
a> a) cS sh <« sS 
OOOQOM 



P P P -g bD 

cS . oj d C fl 

g£lg&3 

a) R n » oj M 



S ef^fS S ^ 

ci .a p eS cS p 

a go a as 

fi CS p fc. Sh 'tS 

<u sh S3 o> a) S 

OflhOOM 



a £> a '5 pvs 

OoiOflOW 



(BNOOOlOH 



ci Sh e3 cj 



r-ajaiajaijraia) 
§ PS Pi n p3 02 P3 P5 



•-S bb p" 
a J 



3" &i * 

fl V V 



8-E s-g a as-g 

<v kT a> 2 >"> p <" .5 
P5 !> O 02 O t« Ph 02 



IS g . § 2 u cj . 

ojp-T.3 <a >>> E? o> £ 
P5 ? £ O O t» P5 02 



•C S3 bC 



p5i?QHOt«P-:s« 



ccj q u3 . 2 fe « • 

*-, -H PrrfP Pn Sh J? 
0"2 Sh 13 » ftO^ 

oj hT a» 5 >"> p o> .2 
Ph i> O 02 O 02 Ph 02 



S p fl « S h s 



11 t^ 
tf £ 






^> p <" 3 

O cc Ph cc 



HMCJ^iflfflMXl 






§P50PhWPQ 



to 






■s-p 



a § fees 

* S <D 2 CD oJ 



to bC 

O p 



.H bb 



tj t- ^ 43 ' 
.03 -» <v) £ 



*- *-« 0> "^ +£ 

i d ^ ^ « » 



a § as bit 

u .i; 2 y Sh _P 



s ^£» 

jIh Sh <d to -H 

M <» oj v. ; 3 5 



3 ►» 

R P 5 rfl S p 



rd-s a p &: 

■S P Sh S3 O 
™ m <U S O) 



* § S £ o ^ 



(ONOOOlOH 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 



125 



£ ^ J^hP >, Ph >■, 

h 43 43 tl 43 S*43 
HPh S PQ PhcoPh 



S) . • P 1o . 

.•« g S a 8 . 

JTS p & &\S;43 
Ph ft ie (5 O 02 Ph 



bb Si) 

P P 



f^S I 



„ .a .s ^-, h - 
Ph Ph 1> 02 O 02 Ph 



.B =3 

^ L 0) 



£ ;>> g< £. 



Pnft O^PhccPh 



CO 


bO P 

.S rt 


CO 

P 


S-. 




^^ 




p 


p 
1- 


a 


Ph 


>> 














PhPhPhOO 


02 


Oh 






in 












a 


w 







P fl a p ' 



• 2^ P « fH 

. 2 g S a S . 

«§ p p a SL Ph si 

-h j .a « £» pj 



>■»"<« 'ic P 
43 * S «3 ^s-S 
fc § 02 © CJ3 02 P- 



H (M £0 Tf 10 (ON 



*"" ' P W "B 

J • . -P o P 

4> p J" 1 CJ ^» *H 
tH P <U S rP S 

Oo20PhPhO 



II .Jtp° 

,P a P £ inlp 
i2 » s f-i <u cj 



a 



££p 



SPh^oSWPh 



co in 
^ -2 .3 

P E 5 *; rP S 
Wo2^0PhP5 



P, >>P 



a g 



..Iff If 

■B I .a l g»a 

«« 8 "el £ v * 



O 



■£&> 



SPh^oSEHPh 



(CNOO ffl O H 



G 3 



cs . . .p . a) . 

32 !>, t**3 S>> P< i*» 
™ ^ 43 cS 43 8T43 
SS Pi PhPh 02 Ph 



43 3. *h 8 >> rT43 
PhOOPhOo2Ph 



bfl 

•s . .a 
% &p . « 

<v 2 o P 
". ? P 



* ^ t- ^ p ^ -= 
ra h S <» ii. Ph eS 

1— H Cd ^ Sh ^ S >-H 

PHOfifeOoaP- 



.3 P rP h 

43 1 g * 43 &43 

Ph fl f&i Ph Ph 02 Ph 



sib , 

P CO 

•a .a 
2 -a 

,? £ J cs P. & 43 

Ph002O002 Ph 



3 pVi 1 h 

. a> .B o P cp . 

i=-> P 1 a a a s - 1» 

-H 5J 4) H PSP 

PhUPhPhOo2Ph 



h m n ■* w <o n 



126 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

receive their religious instruction from the head 
master, who speaks English, and the little 
children from the daughters of M. de Fellenberg, 
until they are sufficiently advanced in the German 
language to join the classes. The evening re- 
trospect is also separately given, because the 
boys who cannot comprehend what is going on 
would acquire a habit of inattention, and the 
pupils generally would be inclined to look upon 
the assembly as a mere matter of form. For 
the same reason, the new comers do not attend 
the Sunday worship, but, with a master who 
speaks English, join in prayer and reading the 
Scriptures. 

The article in the " Edinburgh Review," to 
which I have already alluded, states that the 
boys commence their study of languages with the 
Greek. At the time this article was written 
there were no English boys in the institution, 
and the German language was familiar to most 
of the pupils at their entrance. I have inquired 
whether M. de Fellenberg still retains his 
opinion respecting the study of Greek, and I 
find his conviction remains the same; namely, 
that where children, even of a tender age, 
exhibit sufficient capacity, the best mode of 
tuition is to commence with Greek, and after- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 127 

wards to proceed to Latin, and the languages 
thence derived. He pointed out the danger 
which might be apprehended from a familiarity 
with mythology; adding, it was to be avoided 
by a comparison between the best portions of 
the Greek and Roman classics with the Christian 
revelation : such a combination, when judiciously 
treated, has been found to confirm and even 
forward the effects of religious instruction. He 
candidly admits that there have been instances 
where the practice of commencing with Greek 
has not borne out the theory, and that certain 
minds, which at first appeared sufficiently pow- 
erful, were found incapable of pursuing the 
classical course. It has also occurred, that even 
when the capacity of the pupil was fully equal 
to the comprehension of so extensive a system, 
the time devoted to his education was insufficient. 
There have been cases (such as the death of parents, 
for example) when pupils were withdrawn from 
the institution before they were sufficiently pre- 
pared in Latin to continue their studies else- 
where : such accidental circumstances have given 
rise to an opinion that Latin is neglected at 
Hofwyl. It has, therefore, been decided to 
commence the study of the ancient classics with 
Latin, and thence to proceed to Greek. Some 
G 4 



128 LETTERS EEOM HOFWYL. 

pupils have remained only long enough in the 
institution to acquire the modern languages ; and 
their education has thus, to the regret of their 
instructors, been left incomplete. 

The professor who undertakes the classical and 
historical department enjoys a high reputation for 
attainments, ability, and experience. De Fel- 
lenberg does not profess to make a classical 
education his first object ; but the institution 
possesses ample means of conferring sound clas- 
sical instruction, provided the pupils are sent 
early enough, and remain long enough to go 
through the complete course of education. It 
must be remembered that German has first to 
be acquired ; and when we consider how many 
years are employed in English schools in the 
study of Latin and Greek only, the proportion 
of time required for all that is done at Hofwyl 
really appears inconsiderable. 

I wish to direct your attention to the arrange- 
ment of the occupations. You already know 
that they change every hour. The hours marked 
study, denote the time given to the preparations 
for the ensuing lessons, so that in many in- 
stances, although one hour only appears to be 
devoted to a particular pursuit, it in fact receives 
two hours' application. You will also conclude 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 129 

that some modifications would be necessary for 
the winter term. The gymnastics then take the 
place of the bathing; and as the opportunities 
for out-door exercise are less than in summer, 
there is more mental employment. Dancing is 
substituted for fencing; a master from Bern 
attends, and there are monthly balls. 

The number of hours devoted to each occu- 
pation is considerable, when we take into account 
that the holidays do not occupy eight weeks in 
the year. There is one month's vacation in 
August ; about ten days at Christmas, two or 
three hours in the morning being employed ; 
about a week at Easter; and some few festivals 
(the particular dates of which I do not remember). 
The certainty of what is to take place tends 
to maintain a tranquillity of mind, to prevent 
the craving for excitement, and the unsettled 
feeling which mars the continued and regular 
efforts so beneficial to the young. 

If you refer to the order of the occupations, 
you will find that the severest mental exertion 
takes place in the early part of the day ; and the 
nature of the consecutive employments varies so 
as to call successively into activity the different 
mental faculties, and afford them alternate ex- 
ercise and repose, while mental application neither 
G 5 



130 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

immediately precedes nor follows a heavy meal. 
The breakfast is served immediately upon rising, 
and the supper is eaten three hours before bed- 
time. All these regulations are in consonance 
with the laws of health. Dr. A. Combe's work on 
" Physiology as applied to Education " is now so 
universally known, that it is only necessary for 
me to remind you of the importance of main- 
taining a healthy constitution, and thus indirectly 
to nurture a healthy, moral, and intellectual con- 
dition. 

M. de Fellenberg may claim the merit of 
carrying these principles into action from the 
very commencement of his undertaking. In 
England we are tardily and partially adopting 
them; but we are yet very far from adopting 
them as an important and necessary part of a 
system of education. 

The operation of another great principle is 
provided for by the regular arrangement of em- 
ployment. M. de Fellenberg would have every 
hour occupied, so that evil shall not find oppor- 
tunities for development: a mind, if not active 
for good, is active for evil. Most truly has it 
been said of industry, " that it quickens, and 
cheers, and gladdens every moment that it occu- 
pies, and is the mother of many virtues when it 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL, 131 

has once grown into a temper of the mind, and 
the nursing-mother of many more." And if a 
mind be inactive, it must not be left to its own 
stagnation ; it should not be listless even in its 
pleasures. During the hours of recreation, the 
pupil is at liberty to amuse hhnself as he likes ; 
but he is surrounded by incitements to innocent 
and healthful occupation. There is ample space 
for active games in the manege in bad weather, 
in the air in dry weather, in the bosquet in hot 
weather. There are also the gardens, and the 
cabinet-makers' shop ; besides books, musical in- 
struments, and rooms free from interruption. A 
boat of very safe construction is kept upon the 
lake, and parties are allowed to use it in turn 
under the care of a master. On a Saturday 
afternoon (which is a half-holiday), those who are 
fond of the sport are permitted to fish from the 
edge of the lake. There is a billiard-table in the 
Lehrer Haus ; the elder boys have occasional per- 
mission from M. de Fellenberg to play. The 
game has in itself no injurious tendency, though 
it is liable to abuse. Accuracy of eye, and dex- 
terity of hand, with the nice measurement of 
distance and of force, so necessary in more im- 
portant operations, are by its means pleasurably 
acquired. It may not altogether shut out the 
a 6 



132 LETTEES FEOM EOFWYL. 

effects of chance ; but, as a game of skill, it takes 
rank after chess, and, like chess, has a wholesome 
effect upon temper, forethought, and integrity. 
As in the case of wine, the habit of using and 
considering the gratification aright, assists in di- 
minishing the temptation to excess. The old 
saying, that " stolen pleasures are sweetest," is 
not without truth ; for the prohibition itself 
arouses the spirit of opposition or of enterprise 
inherent in some natures. If pleasures, in them- 
selves innocent, are permitted under rational and 
fair regulations, the excitement which may attach 
to the stealing them is done away with, since 
there is no longer any merit, real or imaginary, 
in the theft. 

You have not yet been introduced to the 
cabinet-makers' shop. You will observe that a 
certain time is set apart for cabinet work : the 
use of tools calls into action those faculties which 
mere intellectual and physical activity leave un- 
employed; or rather, perhaps, exercises them in 
a fresh direction. Dexterity, neatness, perseve- 
rance, patience, and that energy of purpose which 
impels to the completion of an undertaking, are 
all at work; while an indirect mental advantage is 
also obtained. The results of intellectual appli- 
cation are nearly always remote, and the evi- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 133 

dences of attainment present themselves very 
slowly to the learner. I have often observed that 
this remoteness will throw a child into despair, 
while others will be discouraged because they 
have so little experience of the utility of their 
efforts. When engaged upon the cabinet-work, 
filial and home affections are predominant ; the 
work is intended for some beloved relative, or 
distant friend, and the satisfaction of presenting 
an evidence of industry is amongst the safe sti- 
mulants to exertion. 

At my first visit to the cabinet-makers' shop, I 
saw some beautiful specimens of industry and 
taste in the work-boxes, writing-desks, dressing- 
cases, &c. made by the elder pupils. They receive 
instructions from a workman whose moral cha- 
racter and propriety of manner and conversation 
are as much to be relied upon as his skill. It 
was pleasing to hear the encomiums bestowed by 
the youngest, or the least dexterous, workmen 
upon the superior productions of their more skilful 
companions ; and still more so, to watch the ex- 
pression of the countenances of the group who 
showed me their work, when pronouncing the 
names of dear friends and relatives for whom their 
boxes were destined. This is one of the means of 



134 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

preserving the ties which bind them to home and 
its inmates. 

These are the immediate effects of the employ- 
ment in cabinet-work; the future benefits are as 
valuable. Scientific and mechanical pursuits fre- 
quently demand the making of nicely adjusted 
models or machines for philosophical experiments 
and observations : he who can construct them 
himself, or who understands all the technicalities, 
has an infinite advantage over one who is prac- 
tically ignorant of the work he requires. And 
again, the man of leisure is often in need of re- 
sources ; the learned have not unfrequently found 
their books to be but " tedious friends ; " the tried 
mind of the student wants some better relief than 
idleness ; weather may disappoint the sportsman, 
and the relaxations of society are not always at 
command : at such times, a mechanical, yet ele- 
gant pursuit would be most valuable. I believe 
you can recall, as I do, instances where such an 
accomplishment has proved a relief even in sorrow ; 
but how many more could we not name, where it 
would have been a defence from the tedium of 
ennui, and the small and great vices which idle- 
ness, rather than inclination, has induced. I 
was much struck by the remark made by an 
English officer, when examining some of the boxes 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 135 

made at Hofwyl. "Would," he said, "that I 
had been taught to do this ! I could then have 
employed the many hours which have hung so 
heavily on my hands. I never was a reader, and 
the Latin and Greek they crammed me with 
have been of no use to me." I ventured to re- 
mark, he might have valued the Latin and Greek 
more, had he been provided with other resources : 
neither did it appear a just conclusion that the 
one attainment must necessarily exclude the other. 

There is one point connected with the education 
at Hofwyl which is peculiarly worthy attention. 
I allude to the advantages derived from the num- 
ber of the masters, and the consequent variety of 
occupation. He who professes but one or two 
branches of education is more likely to be master 
of his subject, than he who grasps at many. All 
great seminaries of learning are conducted upon 
the principle of a division of labour ; and although 
elementary education does not demand the same 
profound acquirement, there can be no doubt that 
better results would be obtained if each depart- 
ment of instruction were consigned to a different 
individual. 

The change of room and of occupation secures 
a renewed activity of mind; its elasticity is restored 
by the short interval of freedom allowed between 



136 LETTERS EROM HOFWYL. 

the lessons, and by the entering upon a new train 
of ideas, for the faculties are not fatigued by 
occupation so much as by being too long employed 
upon one subject. A variety of masters has also 
this good effect : I will presume upon no unfre- 
quent occurrence, — the inaptitude, dullness, or 
idleness of a pupil during a given study ; and, I 
might even add, the sort of opposiveness, the 
repulsion, which two minds sometimes excite in 
each other, or the caprice and listlessness which 
trifling physical ailments occasionally engender. 
A boy may begin the day under one of 
these unfortunate influences, and during his first 
lesson incur disapprobation ; if he have the same 
master during the greater part of the morning, 
both continue under the first impressions. All 
who understand anything of the business of edu- 
cation are aware how difficult it is for the teacher 
to control himself so far as to forget the offence 
which has troubled him : a bad translation augurs 
ill for the Greek declension, and a blotted copy- 
book forebodes false quantities ; it is almost im- 
possible to go through a new lesson without a re- 
currence to the old offence, and the pupil himself 
is depressed by the difficulty of overcoming the 
ill impression he has already made, and is aware 
that, having commenced badly, the chances are 



LETTEES FBOM HOFWTL. 137 

against hinp all the rest of the day. Where the 
master is changed, the faults committed during 
one lesson are not carried on to the next ; the 
pupil begins again with the cheering consciousness 
that the course is clear before him, while the 
master escapes the danger and the suspicion of 
committing an injustice. 

No mind is equally apt at all times and for all 
studies ; a boy may be quick at language, and dull 
at figures, or the contrary. At Hofwyl he is not 
obliged to give half his hours of study to a pursuit 
for which he knows he will acquire but little 
credit ; and he has also the certainty that his 
ability will not be measured against that of another 
boy, but that the amount of his industry, rather 
than of his success, will be calculated. The 
instinctive emulation which belongs to the human 
character cannot and ought not to be withdrawn : 
it leads the pupil to feel, that if he is not equal 
to a certain class-fellow in one department, he can 
beat him in another ; and the consciousness of 
the possession of some one excellence encourages 
him to apply his energies to overcome his defects. 
His self-esteem is never crushed ; he knows that 
at the end of the day the balance will not be 
against him, if he have only the perseverance 
exacted of all. There are no lucky hits which 



138 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

are to dispossess him of rank in a class ; no arti- 
ficial stimulants, no envyings, no fears or complaints 
of favouritism, no apprehension of toil and industry- 
bestowed in vain ; for there are no prizes, no places 
taken and lost. If it be found that a boy, from 
his mental constitution, does not improve in any 
one department, while classed with lads of his own 
age, he is removed; and should there be no class 
with which he can be associated advantageously 
to himself, he is taught alone. The boy is not 
fitted to the instruction, but the instruction to the 
boy ; and this care extends to every part of the 
education ; nothing is spared that is needful to the 
successful training of the individual. 

I subjoin the list of books used in the schools, 
and the course of classical instruction, as detailed 
by Mr. Woodbridge : — 

GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 

The grammars of Theodore Muller, Becker, 
and of Wurst; the works of Schmid, Campe, 
Honwald, Schubert, Jakobs, Krummacher, Engel, 
Humboldt ; selections from Lessing, Chamisso, 
Uhland, Schiller, Herder, Goethe, Richter, Klop- 
stock, Oltrogge, De Piitz, Reclamy, De Politz, 
Wackernagel, Gotzinger, Kurz, Wachler, Kober- 
stein, Pischon, Scholl, Gervinus, Eitner, &c. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 139 

FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 

Fenelon, Barthelemy, Florian, Voltaire's 
Charles XII., selections from Bernardin de St. 
Pierre, Racine, Corneille, Lamartine, Chateau- 
briand, De Noel, Laplace, Orelli, Vinet, &c. ; La 
Harpe, Tissot, &c. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

The works of Hitter, Rougemont, Cannabich 
Jeune, Berghaus, Raunier, Volger, Schacht, 
Blank, Roon, &c. 

MATHEMATICS, INCLUDING ARITHMETIC, AL- 
GEBRA, GEOMETRY, AND TRIGONOMETRY. 

The works of Diesterweg, Heuser, Reynaud, 
Bourdon, Meier, Hirsch, Lefebure de Fourcy, 
De Veley, Legendre, Cagnoli, Biot, Bung, La- 
croix, &c. 

NATURAL HISTORY. 

The great work of Bischoff, that of the cele- 
brated naturalist Oken, with those of Blum, 
Bronn, Leonhard, Leuckart, and Voigt (the 
latter publication has already reached sixty-eight 
volumes) ; the great Atlas of Natural History and 
of Anatomy published by the University of Bonn; 



140 LETTERS EROM HOFWYL. 

Hegetschwyler's Collection of Plates for the Study 
of Botany, and those of Schinz for Zoology. 

PHYSICS. 

Gehler's great work, with that of W. Eisenlohr. 

CHEMISTRY. 

Gay Lussac, Dulong, Thenard, Dumas, Mit- 
scherlich, Schubler: the latter has treated of 
chemistry in connection with agriculture. The 
works of Dr. Justus Liebig are eminently service- 
able ; and Graham's Chemistry, translated by Dr. 
Otto, is also used. 

HISTORY. 

The works of Bredow, Becker, Schlosser, 
Korstiim, Raumer, Rotteck, Niebuhr, Johann de 
Miiller, Segur, Sismondi, and G. de Humboldt, 
with the best English historians. 

In addition to the classical authors enumerated 
by Mr. Woodbridge, the following are in use : 
The dictionaries of Karcher and of Rost, Butt- 
mann and Zumpt's grammars, and the works of 
Jakobs, Doring, and Ellendt. 

* Six years is considered as a proper period for 

* I transcribe Mr. Woodbridge's sketch of the system adopted 
in classical instruction. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 141 

the study of the Greek and Latin languages ; the 
two first to be employed in Latin, the four last 
in Latin and Greek united. In both languages, 
three or four months are first spent in a thorough 
study of the inflections and forms of words, not 
in the abstract barely, but with exercises in brief 
phrases, both written and spoken. It is the aim 
to make pupils learn rules by discovering them 
themselves, in a series of examples which are given, 
rather than by committing them mechanically to 
memory. No classical author is taken up as a 
regular study until after eight months or a year 
spent in elementary exercises. The following are 
the general principles which direct the course of 
instruction. Care is taken to produce interest and 
animation in every part of the course ; and, for 
this purpose, no branch of classical study is pur- 
sued so long and monotonously as to make it 
tedious. About half an hour of every recitation is 
occupied with grammar or composition, and half 
with translation. 

Reading is of two kinds — slow and rapid; the 
former being designed to afford time for illustra- 
tion, and the latter to give scholars facility in 
translation. 

All allusions to history, geography, mythology, 
or antiquities, are carefully observed and ex- 



142 LETTERS FROM HOEWYL. 

plained ; not only as a means of conveying the 
knowledge necessary to understand the author, 
but in order to interest the pupil. The walls 
of the classical recitation room are covered with 
maps, plans, and figures, for illustrations of this 
kind, as well as with tables of grammatical forms. 
, No author is read in course ; but those passages 
only are selected for translation which will in- 
terest the pupil : every thing of an immoral ten- 
dency, or calculated to excite the passions, as in 
some portions of the " Eclogues," and in the ac- 
count of Catiline's wars, is carefully avoided. 

The comparison of forms of sentences and of 
words with each other, and with those of other 
languages, is deemed a rich source of illustration 
and interest. In pursuing this course, however, 
pupils should not be wearied with questions, and 
exercised on forms, with which they are already 
familiar, but only on those which are difficult. 

Logical analysis is found to be another im- 
portant means of instructing and improving pupils. 
For this purpose, the train of thought, and the 
course of argument, of the author studied, is ex- 
amined, and pupils must be made to recapitulate. 
Beauties may be pointed out to them, and must 
be when they are not perceived by them ; but in 



LETTEKS FKOM HOFWYL. 143 

general, ideas should rather be elicited than com- 
municated. 

Latin, being an easier language than the Greek, 
and consequently being better adapted to the 
capacities of boys, is studied first. It is usually 
commenced when they are eleven years of age. 
The plan of the Latin course at present pursued 
in the institution at Hofwyl, as taken from the 
documents prepared by the professors, and ap- 
proved by Fellenberg, is as follows : — 

Instruction in this language should be divided 
into four courses, where the circumstances and 
distribution of the pupils allow it. 

1. Elementary instruction and reading. 

2. Livy and Sallust. 

3. Selections from Cicero and the poets. 

4. Tacitus. 

The instruction in Latin embraces three sub- 
jects, viz. Grammar, Reading of Authors, and 
Practical Exercises. These subjects should be 
continued through every division of the course in 
connection with each other, and they demand the 
undivided attention of the teacher. 

I. The first or elementary course should occupy 
two years, with the following subdivisions in 
regard to the distribution of studies. 

The first subdivision is the preparatory course, 
of one year. 



144 LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 

a. Grammar and forms of words studied, 
and carefully committed to memory. Continued 
application made in oral and written translations 
from their mother tongue. 

b. After six alternated months, these exercises 
should be with translations from Latin into the 
mother tongue, either from sentences dictated, or 
from books in the hands of the pupils. 

c. Practical exercises, more extended, and em- 
bracing retranslations of passages already chosen. 
To translate freely selected passages would yet 
be too difficult. 

The second subdivision of the year is devoted 
chiefly to reading. 

a. Reading. 

Reading selections from Caesar's Gallic War. 
Lib. I. 1 — 29. Invasion of the Helvetians. 
30 — 54. War against Ariovistus. 

III. 1—6. Attack of the Valais. 

IV. 1 — 19. War against the German 

Emperors. 
20 — 36. First landing in Britain. 
Y. 8 — 23. Second landing in Britain. 
VI. 11—20. Description of the Gauls. 
21 — 24. Description of the Ger- 
mans. 

b. Grammar. Repetition of forms. Syntax. 



LETTERS FROM HOEWYL. 145 

c. Practical exercises from Doring, in refer- 
ence to Syntax. 

II. The second course, of one year and a half, 
should be spent chiefly in reading Livy and Sal- 
lust. 

The first subdivision, of one year, should be 
spent chiefly in the study of Livy. 

a. Reading. Livy. 

b. Grammar, repetition of Syntax, with farther 
extension and investigation of particular rules. 
The essentials to be dictated by the teacher. 
Prosody begun, and practised from Doring's Ex- 
ercises. Free extracts from ancient writers are 
made use of for this purpose. Extempore ex- 
ercises. 

The second subdivision, to Sallust, one half- 
year. 

a. Reading. Sallust's Jugurthine "War begun, 
and Livy pursued more rapidly than before. 

b, c. As in previous subdivision. 

III. The third course, of two and a half years, 
should be occupied with reading of Cicero, with 
Virgil and Horace. 

First subdivision, one year and a half. 

a. Reading the Orations of Cicero, especially 
the four orations against Catiline, with ap- 

H 



146 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

propriate passages from Sallust for illustration: 
this last should be private exercises. 

1. Catiline's speech to the conspirators. 2. 
Three first orations of Cicero. 3. Caesar's speech 
in the senate. 4. Cicero's fourth oration. 5. 
Catiline's speech in the senate. 6. Catiline's 
speech to his army. 

After these are read, other orations must be 
chosen, for Muraena, Varro, &c., and last, the 
oration for Roscius. In the last six months 
select passages from Virgil's -ZEneid should be 
explained. 

b. Grammar, continuation and extension of 
Syntax. Comparison of synonymes. Rules of 
the particles. Prosody repeated from time to 
time. 

c. Exercises, consisting in a continuation of 
translations from the mother tongue, and from 
old writers. Original compositions in Latin 
whenever the pupils are capable. 

Second subdivision, one half-year. 

a. Selections from Cicero's Letters, from Vir- 
gil's JEneid, and, for the sake of change, from 
the Georgics. The lessons from poetry and prose 
to be equal in number. 

b. c. As in second subdivision. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 147 

Third subdivision, one half-year. 

a. Rhetorical and philosophical writings of 
Cicero. Extracts from Cicero de Oratore, de 
Amicitia, de Senectute, de Officiis. Selections 
from the Odes and Satires of Horace also studied. 

b. c. As before. 

IV. The fourth course, of a year and a half, is 
devoted to the reading of Tacitus, and continua- 
tion of Horace. 

a. The Agricola of Tacitus, and some part of 
his Annals, are read and thoroughly explained. 
In addition to these, the epistles of Horace, and his 
De Arte Poetica, are read. 

b. Grammar, and the most difficult portions of 
Syntax. Latin style. 

c. Exercises upon original and peculiar phrases. 
Metrical exercises and investigations of the phi- 
losophy of the Latin language. 

The period assigned to the study of Greek, 
in connection with a regular course of other 
studies, is six years, four lessons weekly. It was 
formerly studied at Hofwyl before the Latin, but 
is now deferred, as being too difficult for the first 
effort of an immature mind. The following is an 
outline of the method of instruction pursued : — 

The period of study is divided into two prin- 
cipal courses — 

h 2 



148 LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 

1. The elementary course, of four years, in 
which the forms occupy the attention chiefly. 

2. The higher course, in which Syntax is the 
principal subject of study. 

Elementary Course — four years. 

First division, one year and a half. 

First subdivision. 

Three months of exercises in phrases and 
forms, including quantity and accent, confining 
the attention to essential points, and directing 
it towards a preparation for Homer. 

Second subdivision, one year and a quarter. 

a. Six months. 

1. The Attic forms, excluding all poetic forms, 
with references to Buttman's small grammar, and 
translations out of the mother tongue. 

2. The principal rules of quantity and accent. 
The accents should be employed in the written 
exercises. 

3. Examples for translation should be ex- 
tracted as much as possible from Homer, and 
particularly from those portions which are to be 
read later. 

4. These Homeric phrases should be committed 
to memory, as a preparation for the study of 
Homer. 

5. The examples themselves should also be 



LETTERS FROM HOEWYL. 149 

according to the pure Attic forms, without 
reference to poetical and secondary forms. 
b. Three months. 

1. When well acquainted with the Attic forms 
of declension and conjugation, the pupils should 
be introduced to the poetic forms, according to 
the methods of Thiersch on the Homeric dialect, 
in his new grammar. The contents of this 
essay should be rendered more tangible to the 
pupil by means of tabular views of the forms 
and variations in juxtaposition, which should be 
placed in his hands. 

2. He should then be introduced, by a short 
account of the measure of Homer, to the scanning 
of his poems, with illustrations by means of other 
examples. 

The pupil is thus prepared with a more ex- 
tended knowledge of Homeric words, and of 
poetical variations, for the study of Homer itself. 

Second division, one year and a half. 

The second division of the elementary course 
is spent in reading selections from the Odyssey, 
which is much preferable to the Iliad, on account 
of its simplicity. 

1. A series of selections must be made from 
the Odyssey, embracing the principal events of 
the lives of the heroes (without the episodes), and 
H 3 



150 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

forming, as it were, an interior Odyssey, to 
avoid unconnected reading. Selections from ten 
or twelve books, read in a thorough manner, on 
this plan, will enable the pupil to understand this 
author well. 

2. In addition to the exercises of language 
and thought connected with this reading, -par- 
ticular lessons should be devoted to the forms of 
the language, and translations from the mother 
tongue into Greek. But the translations should 
always, at every period of the course, be in the 
Attic dialect. 

3. The instruction in accents must be repeated 
and extended, and applied in the practical ex- 
ercises. 

The greater part of the time should now be 
devoted to the Odyssey, which may properly 
be done if the foundation has been well laid in 
the first course. There should be six lessons 
weekly ; four of Homer, and two of grammar. 

Third division, one year. 

Select portions of Herodotus and the Iliad. 

First subdivision, one year. 

Herodotus exclusively. Select portion — from 
the Persian war. The battles of Marathon, Ther- 
mopylse, Salamis, Platea, and Mycales afford 
such materials for choice. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 151 

This should be preceded by an introduction, 
comprising notices of the life of Herodotus, and 
the peculiarities of the new Ionic dialect. The 
exercises in forms, accents, and writing should 
be continued. Syntax should be occasionally 
but thoroughly explained, and practised upon. 
The scientific development of the principles of 
all the Greek dialects will be reserved for the 
second course. 

Second subdivision, one half-year. 

The study of Herodotus is continued, in con- 
nection with the Iliad. 

1. The lessons should now be divided between 
Herodotus and the Iliad, in order to continue the 
study of poetical language, and also to complete 
the study of Homer. Selections are made and 
studied, as in the Odyssey. 

The regular reading of Homer is now to be 
completed, and the scholar of good capacity en- 
abled, either as holiday or private exercises, under 
the direction of the teacher, to study particular 
books, or to read the whole for himself. 

2. The grammatical exercises, heretofore begun, 
will be continued. In returning to Homerical 
studies, some written exercises in poetry may be 
added, merely with the view of fixing the rules of 

H 4 



152 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

Prosody in the mind of the pupil, by practical 
exercises. 

Higher Course — three years. 

The Greek literature developed itself in the 
following order: Poetry, History, Oratory, and 
Philosophy. 

The course of instruction in the language 
should follow as much as possible the same order. 
The first course does this in effect, with regard 
to history and poetry. The authors should be 
chosen among the Attic writers to complete the 
second course, and arranged according to their 
subjects, as follows : — 

First division, two years — History and Poetry. 

Second division, one year and a half — Eloquence. 

Third division, one year and a half — Philo- 
sophy, if thought advisable. 

First division, two years. 

Attic History and Poetry. 

First subdivision, one half-year. 

Selections from Xenophon. Syntax. 

1. Selections from Xenophon's historical writ- 
ings. Perhaps Matthias's Chrestomathy may here 
be useful. This author is important, in part as 
furnishing occasion for instruction in Syntax, and 
in part as an introduction to Thucydides. The 



LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 153 

Anabasis seems too easy, after Herodotus, and 
too difficult in comparison with Thucydides; and 
selections may, therefore, best be made from 
other portions. 

2. In the lessons of grammar, the most rigid 
course of Greek Syntax should be followed. The 
extent and contents of the syntactical system 
should be described, as well as the consequences 
of particular rules. The rules should be illus- 
trated by appropriate examples ; and as Syntax is 
now introduced for the first time, the number of 
lessons in parsing should equal those of reading. 

Second subdivision, one half-year. 

Thucydides alone. 

1. Selections from the historical portions should 
occupy three or four lessons weekly. 

2. Syntax and writing, with occasional repe- 
tition of forms, may fill up the time. 

Third subdivision. 
Thucydides, with a tragic poet. 

1. Thucydides, two or three lessons. 

2. Introduction to tragedies. Origin and cul- 
tivation of the -ZEschylus and Sophocles more 
particularly examined. Practical preparation and 
exercise. 

3. Selection from tragedies. iEschylus. Battle 

h 5 



154 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

of Salamis. Description of the shield. Pro- 
metheus. Chorus of Eumenides. Sophocles, 
Electra. CEdipus. Particular chorus. Philoc- 
tetus, for private reading. 

4. Syntax and writing continued. 

Fourth subdivision. 

Tragic Poets alone. 

.ZEschylus and Sophocles, three or four lessons 
weekly. 

Second division, one half-year. 

Attic Eloquence. Selected speeches from Thu- 
cydides and the Philosophy of Demosthenes. 
Syntax exercises. 

Third division, one half-year. 

Philosophy. If the advances made by the pupil, 
and other circumstances, render it desirable, half 
a year may be spent in studying some of the 
smaller works and divisions of Plato, which pre- 
sent the last days and death of Socrates. 



LETTERS PROM HOFWYL. 155 



LETTER X. 

During the last fortnight, two young men have 
been at Hofwyl on their wedding tour ; both old 
pupils, but quite unconnected with each other, 
who have brought their brides to visit the scene 
of their boyhood. Their reminiscences of that 
period must be pleasant, or they would scarcely 
choose such a time to renew their acquaintance 
with M. de Fellenberg and the institution. In 
one of these cases, the parties only stayed a day ; 
in the other, they remained more than a week ; 
and we have had the pleasure of witnessing many 
kindly recognitions between some of the professors 
and their pupil, and the renewal of many boyish 
pleasures. The evening before last we had a 
concert in the saloon, in honour of the visitors, 
music being amongst their many accomplishments. 
All the pupils of the high school, and several of 
the masters, were present : some of the pupils per- 
formed, and, large as our party was, we were 
associated like the members of one great family. 
True, our complexions and our language were 
equally various : German, Swiss, French, Italian, 
Spanish, and English tongues mingled in amicable 
H 6 



156 LETTERS PROM HOFWYL. 

confusion ; but though they uttered such different 
sounds, our voices and hearts were in harmony. 
How different the sentiments of these youths 
towards their brethren of other lands, to those in 
which we were reared ! when we heard foreigners, 
and especially Frenchmen, designated as some- 
thing akin to noxious animals, who were to be 
slaughtered, despised, and hated — when bonfires 
blazed, bells rang, and congratulations were ex- 
changed upon the news of a victory which had 
consigned thousands to destruction, to privation, 
and to grief. In such a community as Hofwyl, 
national prejudices find little place : while the 
love of country is nourished, it does not exclude 
the universal charity and friendly feeling which 
allow all men to be brethren, wherever they may 
be born, and whatever language they speak. 
Neither are its members likely to run into the 
opposite error, of admiring all things that are 
foreign, simply because they are so, while the 
productions of their own country are treated with 
contempt. If the defects of national character 
are perceived, its virtues are also acknowledged. 
The English lad who boasts of his supremacy in 
the gymnasium, and laughs at the heavy, phleg- 
matic awkwardness of the Swiss, acknowledges 
the poetical character of the German, and the 



LETTERS FROM EOFWTL. 157 

economical, contented disposition of the Swiss, 
with the same candour he exercises in comparing 
the sublimity of the Oberland with the calm 
repose of an English landscape; and when he visits 
the scenes where they struggled for, and achieved, 
their freedom, he sympathises with their enthu- 
siasm, as a member of a free state. 
* And this superiority of the English over the 
Swiss, in point of dexterity, reminds me of the 
respect for physical power, which no doubt exists 
in all seminaries, but which at Hofwyl exhibits 
itself more openly and avowedly, because physical 
exercises form a part of education. Great strength 
in school-boys is but too often allied with tyranny: 
here, the strongest and most active lad is an 
object of admiration, not of fear, for his power is 
never made a means of oppression and cruelty; 
on the contrary, his companions feel a confidence 
in him which makes them happy to have him for 
the leader of their gymnastic class, their associate 
in their games ; it is even something to be his 
opponent ; while his prowess during the monthly 
tour, and the aid he has given to the weary, the 
weak, or the timid, is duly estimated. 

Many of the masters go through the gymnastic 
exercises with the pupils ; and it is certain that 
the tallest, strongest, and most active among the 



158 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

former obtains at first the greatest amount of ad- 
miration: after a while, moral and intellectual 
supremacy receive their greater meed of respect ; 
but even these are increased in value when ac- 
companied by physical power. Once a month 
the masters and the pupils of the highest gym- 
nastic class go through the most difficult ex- 
ercises : the other classes usually attend, when 
they watch the failures and success of the athletae 
with much interest, and exhibit a very critical 
acquaintance with the practice. 

The effects of what I have before spoken of 
as the " instinctive emulation " which belongs to 
human nature, are very apparent during these 
tests of skill and strength, more so than is possible 
in intellectual rivalry. The various exercises 
follow each other in regular succession, and each 
pupil goes through the same feat, whether of 
jumping, leaping, vaulting, or swinging with the 
arms — (you must forgive my want of the techni- 
calities). We have been present at several of these 
athletic efforts, and witnessed feats, such as attract 
public notoriety in England, performed with the 
modest confidence of power. There was neither 
boasting nor any endeavour to depreciate: any 
extraordinary success was met by a murmur of ap- 
probation, and a bold endeavour was appreciated, 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 159 

even if it missed its aim, while a hearty laugh 
greeted an awkward failure: there was no wish 
to crush another, or to rise upon the failure of a 
competitor ; and this universal feeling was made 
more evident by the anxiety with which each in- 
dividual is watched during any difficult or dan- 
gerous attempt, and by the precautions used for 
the general safety. Each pupil, when his turn 
was over, took his station on the spot where he 
could render most effectual assistance ; and there 
was always somebody ready to break the force of 
a fall, or to prevent an unlucky slip ; while the 
most experienced lent their counsel and aid. We 
may fairly presume that these generous senti- 
ments of honest, healthy emulation are extended 
to all their pursuits ; indeed I can aver, that 
during our stay at Hofwyl (and we are daily 
spectators of the sports, and present at some of 
the lessons), we have not heard a dispute, nor 
observed any mark of violence, oppression, or in- 
justice. I will not say that these never occur, or 
that there are not dispositions which, if left with- 
out the habitual restraint which characterises the 
discipline, would indulge in tyranny ; but the 
general feeling is against them, and they are not 
only condemned by the masters, but discouraged 
by the public voice. Faults of character and 



160 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

mental incapacities are perceived, foibles are 
quizzed ; all must bear and forbear, but none 
must be oppressed or persecuted. The constant 
superintendence prevents the indulgence of ty- 
rannical inclinations, where they exist, and shuts 
out the example they would give; while the 
constant repression they meet, with the encourage- 
ment given to more virtuous sentiments, go far 
towards establishing the necessary and important 
habit of self-control. 

The gymnastic lessons for the younger classes 
are conducted with great care : a leader is ap- 
pointed from the highest class, and he, having 
gone through the exercise which is to be practised, 
stands by each individual as he follows in turn, 
ready to catch him if hand or foot fail. Only one 
boy is permitted to take the exercise at a time, 
and masters are always in the manage, giving a 
general superintendence. 

Some of the minor arrangements are conducted 
by a body called the Hausrath, which is elected 
by the boys themselves, from the different classes, 
each class sending its representative to this par- 
liament, which chooses officers, and, amongst others, 
a treasurer, who has the charge of the common 
fund, to which each boy contributes a weekly sum. 
This sum pays for broken windows, for balls and 



LETTERS PROM HOEWYL. 161 

all such general playthings, for the repairs of the 
apparatus of the gymnasium, for any travelling 
exhibition which the boys wish and have permis- 
sion to see, and, lastly, it contributes to charitable 
objects. Some of the hausrath are appointed to 
inquire into cases of distress in and about the 
neighbourhood; and having made a report, the 
body determines what aid shall be afforded. The 
hausrath also appoints officers to the regiment, 
and persons to take charge of the apparatus of 
the gymnasium and of the arms ; it also names the 
leaders of the gymnastic classes ; and it takes a 
part with the masters in determining the different 
routes for the summer journeys, M. de Fellenberg 
himself pronouncing a final judgment. 

The universal courtesy is a striking feature of 
the manners of the place. We never meet any 
of the inhabitants, in whatever station, without 
a recognition by lifting the cap, or some friendly 
greeting ; and this is not a mere civility to stran- 
gers, but a habit practised by all, and towards all. 
I must also give you an example of the effects of 
the conscientious discipline, if I may be allowed so 
to term it, practised at Hofwyl. There are no 
walls, no hedges, no boundary marks, except one 
low hedge round the chateau garden, which skirts 
the road from Buchsee to Siedorf, but the gates 



162 LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 

are unlocked, and the pupils are free to pass 
through. The limits to which the boys may go, 
are known to them, and this is enough. If they 
desire to pass beyond these to any reasonable dis- 
tance, they have but to signify their wish to one 
of the masters, who is authorised to give the 
required permission, which is refused only when 
there is a specific objection. The crops grow 
close to the road, unprotected by any hedge or 
railing, but they are perfectly uninjured, although 
continually passed by the boys. Every small 
border of grass remains untrodden. All agri- 
cultural produce, if not really of greater value in 
Switzerland than in England, appears to be so con- 
sidered, and the respect paid to it (at Hofwyl) is 
proportionate. Not many hours after our arrival, 
one of the new-comers was heedlessly walking on 
a grassy ridge, instead of on the path. " Only let 

them see you," cried , pulling him off. " You 

don't yet know how precious even a blade of grass 
is here ! TVe take care of every thing ; nothing is 
wasted ; and when you have been here as long as 
I have, you'll know the reason." 

On another occasion I was entreated to inter- 
pose my authority to prevent a little fellow (not 
a pupil) from pursuing a cat who had hidden 
herself in the corn, about a yard from the road- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 163 

side, opposite the Lehrer Haus, not from any 
apprehension of his incurring a reprimand, but 
simply because the corn was too valuable to allow 
even an ear to be wasted. These anecdotes, 
trifling as they may appear, confirm Mr. Wood- 
bridge's remark, that " the labour necessary for the 
acquisition and preservation of property serves to 
show them its value, and to inspire a respect for 
that of others." Those pupils who by the circum- 
stances of birth are not called upon to labour, are 
yet instructed, by all that goes on around, that 
there is no disgrace attached to the employment 
of the labourer : they perceive that the tiller of 
the earth is not necessarily an ignorant slave, but 
a being that may be taught to understand the 
processes which he is promoting and assisting, and 
that upon the results of his skill and industry, 
foresight and patience, mainly depends the com- 
fort of the community. The boys of the high 
school have frequent opportunities of observing 
the results of careful honest industry, and of 
learning by experience the mutual dependence of 
the various classes. The remarks made by the 
Edinburgh Reviewer on this portion of the subject, 
in 1808, apply equally well at the present mo- 
ment ; and that they do so apply, after an interval 
of twenty-three years, sufficiently proves the 



164 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

soundness of a scheme which combines the 
education of the poor and the rich : — 

" The connexion between the seminary for the 
poor, and the academy for the upper classes, 
consists in the pains constantly taken to inculcate 
upon each their relative duties towards each other. 
The pupils of the academy, whatever be their 
rank or wealth, are sedulously taught that their 
first duty is to use the means which Providence 
has placed at their disposal in a way likely to 
prove beneficial to the less fortunate members of 
the community. The real good of the poor is 
consulted, and not their temporary relief ; the task 
of maintaining them, or teaching them to obtain 
a maintenance by industry and frugality, is pre- 
scribed to the rich, and not the momentary grati- 
fication of compassionate feelings. This charity 
may truly be said to bless the giver as well as the 
receiver ; it requires only his care and attention, 
without diminishing his resources ; and the objects 
of it are rendered valuable to the community, 
happy in themselves, and grateful to benefactors 
who have made them at once industrious and in- 
dependent." 

Dr. Scheidler, Professor of Theology at Jena, in 
a work called " The vital Question of Civilisation," 
treats the establishments at Hofwyl at length : 



LETTEES FEOM HOFWYL. 165 

he views the system as seriously connected with 
the present and future well-being of Europe ; his 
sentiments on the advantages of seminaries for all 
classes are well worthy of observation, and they 
shall conclude my letter : — 

" If the life of that great and good man, the 
Emperor Alexander, had been spared, it was his 
intention to have established in Russia, an in- 
stitution corresponding in all its parts with that 
at Hofwyl, where, by assembling seminaries for 
all classes upon one spot, each could have been 
taught its own duties, and made to compre- 
hend the mutual duties and interests of the 
others. Each would have seen the necessity of 
such a distribution of ranks and employments, 
and the manner in which such an arrangement 
contributed to the prosperity and happiness of all. 
Here pride and baseness, tyranny and slavery, 
would be alike excluded; for employment, oc- 
cupation, and industry, in every degree, would 
be shown to be useful and honourable. In such 
an institution only can the young statesman have 
pointed out to him the actual condition of society 
and its various grades : here alone can he see the 
stuff of which mankind are made ; here alone can 
he see that every class is alike necessary and 
useful to the state ; that all are indispensable to 



166 LETTERS FROM HOEWYL. 

her security, and prosperity, and greatness ; and 
that if any of them were wanting, or trampled 
upon, or set aside, a serious injury would result 
to the community. The contrast between such 
a place of education for a statesman, and that 
which is in general use, is sufficiently striking. 
In the latter, he is placed entirely with those of 
his own rank ; he is accustomed to look upon 
himself and his class with a certain feeling of 
pride, and upon all the inferior classes, as they 
are called — those whom he is afterwards to 
govern, and whose happiness and welfare are to 
form the object of his future anxious life — with a 
degree of contempt ; ignorant, at the same time, 
of their value, their character, virtues, talents, 
wants,, and rights — for rights belong to every 
class of men, even in despotic countries, and 
much more in free ones. He then passes to a 
higher gymnasium or university, where he is, if 
possible, still more separated from practical life, 
and more confined to the closet ; and, lastly, after 
many years of false views of human nature and 
of practical society, he has to begin the study of 
the facts of men, and to learn to honour and 
esteem those men, professions, trades, and even 
handicrafts, for which he has all his life felt a 
certain degree of contempt. Above all, he has 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 167 

now to learn, for the first time (and it would be 
well if this were ever truly learnt), the universal 
brotherhood of man, that all nations are of one 
stock; that every man, however mean his out- 
ward employment, has within him the immortal 
spirit; that the cultivation of this spirit is the 
true destiny of man, to which all politics are only 
subservient ; that the kingdoms of this world, 
however great and glorious in themselves, are 
as nothing in comparison with the glory of the 
spirit of man himself; that they are only the 
forms through which this spirit is to evolve 
itself; that the forms are made for the spirit, 
not the spirit for the forms." (Quoted from De 
Fellenberg's Institutions.) 



168 LETTEES EEOM HOFWYL. 



LETTER XI. 

I was awakened early this morning by an un- 
usual noise and commotion on the stairs and in 
the passages, when, on replying to a tap at my 
door, I learned that the kitchen-chimney of our 
dwelling was on fire. I proceeded to dress 
myself, that I might be ready to escape in case 
of need ; but before I had completed my toilet, 
I was informed that the fire was to all ap- 
pearance extinguished. M. de Fellenberg had 
been summoned to the spot by the somewhat 
exaggerated information that the Lehrer Haus 
was on fire, and he had been in consultation 
with the mason who lives at Hofwyl as to the 
security of the building. Most of the elder boys 
from the Grande Maison, and from the Real 
Schule, had come to the scene of action ; and some 
of the former have since expressed to me their 
disappointment that they were not called upon 
for some greater exertion than running up and 
down stairs and satisfying their curiosity. It 
had never occurred to me to inquire what means 
there were of extinguishing fires at Hofwyl ; and 
now that the question suggested itself, it was 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 169 

answered when I walked out after dinner. In 
the space before the great barn which serves as 
the play-ground to the Real Schule, I found a 
fire-engine in full operation, the boys of the 
three schools supplying it with water from the 
large reservoir at the back of the manege ; 
two lines of them handing full and empty 
buckets to and fro, others pumping in regular 
order, but with all the mirth of boys. A few 
stragglers now and then dared a ducking, and 
got it ; while the upper windows and roofs of the 
rural school and adjoining buildings were the os- 
tensible objects of attack. The lads are thus prac- 
tised, and the fire-engine worked, so many times 
a year ; but this was a special occasion : they were 
called out now, that every thing might be in order, 
and all hands prompt at their work, in case the 
fire at the Lehrer Haus should again break out. 
We have, however, been spared the confusion and 
evils of such an occurrence ; and the alarm had 
the effect of allowing me to witness another 
feature in the life of Hofwyl, of which I should 
probably otherwise have remained ignorant. 

This domestic event reminds me that I have 
not yet spoken of my visits to the tailors' and 
shoemakers' shops, to the laundry, bake-house, 
dairy, &c. These are all out of sight of the 

I 



170 LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 

principal buildings. The cows are much admired 
by strangers ; they are very fine animals, about 
seventy in number ; the black are in one house, 
the red in another, all tethered to the manger : 
they are stall-fed, the land being too valuable to 
be used as pasture : the portion of green food 
allotted to each animal is put into the mangers 
through a wicket, and thus there is no waste ; 
they leave the houses to drink at the cistern 
every afternoon : they are kept with great 
cleanliness, and the quality of the butter, cream, 
and milk attest the excellence of the dairy. A 
great deal of butter is sent to Berne, after the 
establishment is supplied : it is all made by 
men, the vachers, as they are called. One of 
them, a remarkably powerful-looking man, has 
distinguished himself as a wrestler in some of 
the contests between different cantons. These 
matches, and the meetings for shooting, appear, 
amongst other national customs, to have a 
beneficial influence on the people, helping to 
maintain the spirit of union and freedom which 
has distinguished the Swiss confederacy. 

The meat consumed in the establishment is 
fatted and killed at Hofwyl, and I understand 
that the cattle and horses bred on the farm are in 
great request in the canton. All the labourers 



LETTERS EROM HOFWYL. 171 

employed on the farm dine in the rural school; 
so that there must be a large amount of pro- 
vision consumed daily. Half a dozen tailors, 
and as many or more shoemakers, are almost 
constantly occupied; and just now the summer 
coats and shoes for the journey are in preparation. 
The latter are made about a month before the 
tour, and worn for a few days, when they are 
sent back to the shop, and the soles furnished 
with nails. This precaution secures well fitting, 
easy, and strong shoes to the travellers — a point 
of great importance, as tender feet is the evil most 
likely to occur. The dress in summer is cool and 
light, — a dark coat of stuff resembling camlet, or 
of thin blue cloth ; and in winter, I am told, the 
clothes are very thick and warm. There is no 
regulation dress: certain materials are provided 
for the coats, but there is a greater variety in 
those furnished for waistcoats and trowsers, from 
which the boys may choose according to their own 
taste. There is no restriction about linen. I 
conclude that needless extravagance, or want of 
care, would be repressed and corrected; but I 
saw no evidences of inattention to cleanliness. The 
laundry employs about twelve women weekly. 

In the bureau or counting-house, several clerks 
(mostly educated in the rural school) are con- 
i 2 



172 LETTEKS PEOM HOEWYL. 

stantly at Avork, keeping the accounts of the es- 
tablishment, including those which relate to the 
produce of the farm, the manufactory of the agri- 
cultural machines adopted and invented by M. 
de Fellenberg (and which are in great demand), 
the expenditure and receipts of the schools; in 
short, the books are kept as regularly and com- 
pletely as those of commercial houses. The bu- 
reau also serves as a sort of warehouse, where 
certain articles may be purchased by the pupils : 
it also contains the materials for clothes, from 
which the boys, having permission, may choose 
or order what they require. 

The arrangements for pocket-money are these: 
a monthly sum, the amount of which is fixed by 
M. de Fellenberg, is paid at the bureau to each boy 
(they do not all receive the same amount), and 
from this the receiver contributes a certain por- 
tion to the common fund ; he is provided with a 
book, in which he is expected to enter his expen- 
diture, and this book is occasionally shown to M. 
de Fellenberg, who is thus enabled to give his 
counsel, and to expostulate upon any evidences 
of extravagance or idle and profitless expense. 
A boy sometimes wishes for an extra sum, to 
enable him to fit up his cabinet-work, to purchase 
the presents which are mutually interchanged at 



LETTERS FROM EOFWTL. 173 

Christmas, or for any other desired pleasure : in 
these cases he carries his book to M. de Fellen- 
berg, and makes known his wishes, the indulgence 
of which is influenced by the circumstances of the 
case, and by the character of the applicant. 

I was much amused one afternoon at the cu- 
riosity and speculations excited by the announce- 
ment that T. (one of the oldest pupils) was going 
alone on horseback to Berne, and that M. de Fel- 
lenberg had given him twenty-five francs extra. 
The little grey horse caracoled, reared, and backed, 
as if on purpose to give a greater effect to T.'s 
departure : while the youth sat his steed with the 
ease and self-possession of a perfect cavalier, in- 
creased probably by the consciousness of the addi- 
tional importance of the unusual freedom permitted 
on this occasion. Various conjectures were afloat 
as to the object of T.'s mission, and the reasons 
for this departure from the usual regulations : 
hints were heard of some little show of favour ; 
next, a question as to what time he would return ; 
it seemed very satisfactory to all that he was back 
at even an earlier hour than had been anticipated. 
In the course of a day or two the mystery was 
solved. T. informed his companions that he was 
going to join his family in the holidays ; and that 
the object of his journey to Berne, and the twenty- 
I 3 



174 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

five francs extra, was to purchase some furnishings 
for a very handsome dressing-case he had made 
for his father. All now seemed to consider the 
matter very fair and right. I may here remark, 
that the elder pupils are permitted to ride; we 
often saw them accompanying M. de Fellenberg, 
who is an admirable horseman : they speak with 
something like pride of his excellence in horse- 
manship, and anticipate the privilege of being his 
companion. The power conferred on the boys 
by the gymnastic exercises is seen in their firm 
seat, erect carriage, and perfect equilibrium ; most 
of them would jump into the saddle from behind 
the horse, or mount in some unexpected manner, 
for the sake of fun, and a little perhaps to show 
what they could do. 

I have not yet described the weekly muster or 
parade. Every Saturday in summer the pupils 
of all the schools go through the military exercise. 
Every Swiss is a soldier, and to carry arms is a 
part of his education. At Hofwyl there are 
three or four companies, each headed by an 
officer ; there is a standard bearer, a drum-major, 
and several drummers, who beat the signals. The 
fencing-master is the drilling officer. Each soldier 
has a musket fitted to his size, and a cartouche 
box, though there has been no firing during our 



LETTEES FEOM HOFWYL. 175 

stay : the officers carry a sword. When the wea- 
ther is unfavourable, they exercise in the manage ; 
but when fine, they parade upon the play-grounds, 
and occasionally make a circuit of a mile or two 
in the neighbourhood. The English boys do not 
like this discipline ; they " don't see the use of it" 
They are not aware that the prompt obedience to 
the word of command, the unrelaxed attention of 
eye and person, the ready execution of regular and 
combined manoeuvres, discipline the mind and 
the temper ; and they do not discover that this is. 
one reason why " they don't like it." The doing 
as one is bid in an instant, without consideration 
or demur, is a useful moral exercise to the young. 
A mutinous soldier or gymnast marches up and 
down the manege for an hour, with his musket 
shouldered: the punishment is found a greater 
bore than obedience to discipline, and is therefore 
seldom incurred. The troops are to be reviewed 
by M. de F. a short time hence, when an address 
is expected. "We were just too late for a fete 
which took place a few days before our arrival. 
On this occasion many of the relatives of the real 
schulers, and the peasantry (the farmers) from the 
neighbouring villages, assembled with their wives 
and families ; the regiment went through the ma- 
noeuvres, attended by the band of wind instru- 
i 4 



176 LETTERS FROM IIOFWYL. 

ments. A new banner, worked by the ladies, was 
displayed. The company partook of refreshments, 
and the whole scene was described to me, by one 
of the spectators, as very pretty and national. 

We have been to-day to visit one of the elder 
lads in his private apartment: only well-tried 
pupils enjoy this privilege. It was gratifying to 
see the various memorials of past years hanging 
on the walls and distributed around the room. 
A chamois horn, bought on such a journey ; an 
Alpine staff, and the havre-sac, treasured as well- 
tried companions; the portrait of a dear friend 
in England ; a silvered walnut, preserved from 
the Christmas tree ; the shelf of favourite books, 
with many little gifts of companions ; and then 
the sofa, made and stuffed by the hands of the 
owner, the luxury of the room; a portfolio of 
valued prints ; and last, not least, the mother's 
gifts, which told that while the school life had 
been happy, dearer ties had not been weakened. 

The little boys, whom I have already spoken 
of, have also showed me their room, where over 
each bed they have placed their little prints, to 
them treasures as great as the Raphael or Wilkie 
to the connoisseur. I wish I could transfer 
my own assurance of these children's happy 
condition to the hearts of their mothers; while 



LETTEES FEOM HOEWTL. 177 

the ruddy brown cheek, the steady look of con- 
scious security and fearlessness when mingling 
with their older companions, their free intercourse 
with those kind and gentle ladies, and the con- 
stant care of the master to whom they are 
trusted, make me long to transplant hither many 
little victims of false indulgence or neglect, and 
to relieve the anxiety of parents who know not 
where to find the education they desire and can 
appreciate. If it be admitted that the domestic 
influences should have their share in a well con- 
ducted education, this union of childhood and 
youth in an educational establishment is one of 
the means by which an approximation to the 
family circle is obtained. 

Writers upon education have greatly advocated 
the importance of maternal influence. Admitting 
its value in early education, it must yet be acknow- 
ledged that the greater proportion of women in 
all ranks of life are unprepared to exercise well 
and wisely this part of their duty, and that some 
generations must probably pass away before they 
will be fitted by education for the office they seem 
destined to fulfil. Circumstances frequently pre- 
vent those who are capable from bestowing the 
constant superintendence, the unceasing vigilance, 
which boys require. Something more than in- 
i 5 



178 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

fiuence is needed * ; and I doubt whether the 
virtues of the mother would be sufficient to " neu- 
tralise the vices of school." Permitting a child to 
attend any school where vices exist, tacitly sanc- 
tions them. Let every mother, during the early 
years of her sons' lives, establish herself in their 
respect and affection, and she may safely consign 
them to an institution governed by the prin- 
ciples which Hofwyl has established and illus- 
trated. The sentiments she has cultivated will 
be cherished and confirmed ; home and its tenants 
will be valued, not as the refuge from the tor- 
ments of school, not as the place where selfishness 
and indulgence are to be gratified, but as the spot 
where acquirements will be appreciated, where 
sympathy, support, and encouragement will be 
found. The desire to take back satisfaction to 
that home, and the fear of disappointing long- 
cherished hopes, will be amongst the best stimu- 
lants to virtue. 

* " Que l'enfant revive done, comme externe, dans les col- 
leges, cette instruction scolastique a laquelle on attache tant de 
prix ; qu'on eveille son intelligence, qu'on feconde sa memoire, 
l'anie est en*surete, si chaque soir, au sein de sa famille, il peut 
entendre la voix de sa mere, et s'imprimer ses examples. Ains 
tout se resume par l'education des femmes. Nous ne laissons 
aux coleges que l'enseignement classique et presque mecanique 
de l'intelligence, neutralisant les vices de cet enseignement par 
la plus douce, la plus penetrante, et la plus durable des in- 
fluences." (Aime Martin.) 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 179 



LETTER XII. 

I am just returned from witnessing an assaut 
d'arnies. About twenty of the pupils of the 
high school have been fencing, many of whom 
evinced considerable skill and grace, while some 
of the less advanced provoked a little mirth by 
manoeuvres of a somewhat opposite character. A 
large party of spectators assembled to witness the 
assaut : M. de Fellenberg, his family, with the 
principal masters, and such of the real schulers 
whose interest in the matter was sufficient to 
draw them from their sports. One of their own 
body was among the combatants; a lad whose 
conduct has won for him the advantage of re- 
ceiving some of the lessons which are confined to 
the pupils of the high school, and which may 
be classed among the luxuries of education. The 
interest created by these occasional exhibitions 
bespeaks the unity of feeling which prevails at 
Hofwyl. The progress of each pupil is com- 
mented upon by the spectators, and their expres- 
sions of satisfaction or disappointment is the only 
mark of success or disgrace. This unity of feeling, 
this union of interests, belongs to private edu- 
i 6 



180 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

cation, to the influences of home ; and the loss of 
such sympathy is one of the disadvantages of 
public schools, but ill supplied by stimulants to 
vanity and self-love. In the winter there are 
dramatic representations, intended to cultivate 
declamation and elocution. German and French 
plays, or scenes from plays, are acted.* 

I begin to hear anticipations of the August 
journey : we were taken this morning to the 
saddler's to see the havre-sacs he was making for 
some of the tourists. " I hope this will be for 
me ; " " This will suit me exactly," and such-like 
aspirations, were on the lips of those new to the 
honour of a knapsack ; while the veterans were 
faithful in their attachment to the former com- 
panions of their toils and pleasures. Then came 
a relation of " hair-breadth 'scapes," amidst snow 
storms, mists, and glaciers ; while the names of 
the mountains passed from one to the other, like 
the titles of old and familiar friends ; the untried 
expectants listening with silent admiration, an- 
ticipating their own share of adventure. I find 



* The manege is fitted up as a theatre, with very complete 
scenery and dresses. During the Easter holidays (1842) a 
French play was performed to a very large audience ; and on a 
subsequent evening a German play, when upwards of 700 per- 
sons were present. 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 181 

that the tourists will be divided into parties, 
according to age and strength ; a master of well- 
tried experience being attached to each. The 
real schulers, in like manner, proceed in separate 
detachments, equally well appointed. Many- 
English travellers have met parties of Hofwyl 
pupils in these excursions. I must give you a 
little anecdote, repeated to a friend of mine by the 
party concerned in the event. Arriving late in 
the afternoon with his fellow-travellers at an hotel 
in the mountains, they found all the accommo- 
dation it boasted engaged by a party of these lads 
for the night. After taking some refreshment, 
the English travellers summoned the host to in- 
quire what could be done : he informed them that 
the Hofwyl pupils had proceeded another stage 
(on foot, as they always travel) rather than allow 
the ladies to be inconvenienced by their stay. 

The little children have their tour of three or 
four days, and some of them are now looking 
forward to a renewal of the pleasure they have 
already enjoyed. 

I might make many remarks upon the advan- 
tage of holidays thus passed, and compare them 
with the occupations of the generality of English 
boys, and the pleasures prepared and permitted, 
as a recompence for school privation and drudgery, 



182 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

but the difference is too strongly marked to need 
any comment. 

You have heard of the pupils who, during our 
stay here, have brought their brides to the scene of 
their boyhood's home. I have just seen a different 
and more important instance of happy memories, 
in a pamphlet published at Paris, in 1840, en- 
titled " Des Etablissemens d'Education de M. de 
Fellenberg a Hofwyl, traduction libre de l'AUe- 
mand." It is the work of M. Eugene de Caffarelli, 
Maitre des B-equetes, himself a pupil of Hofwyl. 
It is important as an attestation, founded upon 
experience, of the value of that education. M. 
de Caffarelli fully concurs in the testimony given 
by M. Scheidler, in the work I have already quoted, 
and urges upon his countrymen the adoption of 
M. de Fellenberg's principles, and the formation 
of similar establishments. I cannot deny myself 
the pleasure of transcribing M. de Caffarelli's 
preface : — 

" Many persons in France have heard of the 
educational establishments founded by M. de Fel- 
lenberg ; but very few know them, few comprehend 
them, and fewer still have taken the pains to 
study or to appreciate the consequences of the 
views which have guided the founder. Yet all 
the questions he has successively solved are in- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 183 

volved in the discussions which now engage 
attention. The author of this translation believes 
he is rendering a service to his country by en- 
deavouring to extend the knowledge of a work 
which, perhaps for the first time, sets forth satis- 
factorily, though succinctly, the principles that are 
in successful operation at Hofwyl. He will be 
happy if he can contribute to their extension and 
their appreciation, and so avenge the benefactor 
of all who have been confided to him, for the pre- 
sumptuous levity with which he is too commonly 
judged. May M. de Fellenberg see in this 
attempt of one of his pupils the proof and the 
homage of profound gratitude." 

M. de CafFarelli's translation has been reviewed 
in the fifth volume of a French periodical, ( ' Revue 
du Progres Politique, Social, et Litteraire," and 
you will, I think, agree with me, that the following 
observations of the reviewer are worthy attention: 
" This publication is at once an act of personal 
justice towards M. de Fellenberg, a testimony to 
his laborious life, and a service to those who place 
education and instruction in their legitimate 
sphere and in their true rank, that is, at the head 
of society : the one bestows upon mankind their 
morals, increases or restrains their necessities and 
desires, determines and changes the character of 



184 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

the age ; the other developes the germ of activity 
which God has planted in the human being, dis- 
covers and promotes the growth of every faculty 
and of every separate talent. The best education 
is that which disseminates the purest morality; 
the most irreproachable instruction is that which 
allows no element of activity to languish or to 
decay." " The author we have analysed justly 
condemns the material notions, the utilitarian 
principles, so warmly advocated by the cynics of 
our times. These notions and these principles, he 
remarks, lead to a demoralisation which will 
ultimately destroy the foundation of civilised life. 
It is true that all who are governed by the love 
of their fellow-creatures, are shocked by the fatal 
efforts of those who see nothing in human nature 
but its external aspect, nor in society but its geo- 
metrical form or its statistical value, and who are 
absolutely incapable of appreciating that which 
gives existence to man, which animates, nourishes, 
and increases that principle of strength which God 
holds in reserve for each succeeding age. The 
philosopher, the political economist, the legislator, 
or the statesman, who can only teach and secure 
the material interests of society, will awaken no 
faith ; they will write their laws in the sand : 
ludibria ventis? " We recommend this work to 



LETTEBS EEOM HOFWTL. 185 

the perusal of those who think seriously on edu- 
cation and instruction, because it does justice to a 
man rendered eminent by his character, his in- 
tellect, and his labours; and because this short 
production, emanating as it does from a school 
different from our own, breathes throughout the 
sentiments of brotherly love, of faith, and de- 
votion, whence we derive our strength and con- 
fidence." The reviewer might have added, that 
the mind which could appreciate these principles, 
and recommend them to his countrymen, was 
educated at Hofwyl. 

I could add the names of many pupils who 
have distinguished themselves by their literary 
and scientific attainments, and of others who 
occupy political stations of eminence. The career 
of those who had retired into the privacy of 
domestic life can be known only in the circle 
blessed by their virtues. Like the various unseen 
processes by which nature fertilizes the earth, 
the influence of such characters upon society is 
noiseless and unseen, but not the less constant 
and certain. 

Education can only be elementary. A boy is 
not expected to leave school as a perfect and pro- 
found scholar: he has only been supplied with 
the means of making himself perfect afterwards, 



186 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

if so disposed; he has been taught the ground- 
work and the method of study, and is left to build 
up the superstructure himself, in after years. At 
Hofwyl, the elements, rules, and methods of ac- 
quiring various knowledge are taught, the tastes 
are cultivated, the habits formed, and the cha- 
racter trained. The natural and acquired talents 
which attain the highest worldly distinctions can- 
not be expected from all. The discoverers, men 
whose mental power places them in advance of 
their contemporaries, are few in number, compared 
to those whose daily routine of duty consists in 
the careful and steady application of principles 
already made known. If the genius and industry 
which elicit these principles are undoubtedly 
beneficial to society, the habit of patient applica- 
tion, and the temper of mind and honest integrity 
which best qualify men to fulfil their daily duties, 
are not less so. 

Education in England and elsewhere is almost 
exclusively devoted to intellectual cultivation : 
moral training has not yet attained its just es- 
timation. 

It has been well remarked, by Bishop Butler, 
that a moral principle renders man amenable 
to a moral Judge. Revelation gives to man a 
new character, and makes him a religious being. 



LETTERS FHOM HOPWYL. 187 

This elevation of human character is to be 
sought after and attained by slow degrees : it 
unfolds itself gradually under the judicious fos- 
tering care of the nurse and parent ; it unites 
itself with intellect under the wise preceptor, till 
the whole man — moral, religious, intelligent, and 
practical — is prepared to discharge the duties of 
life with intelligent and happy usefulness to 
himself and others. This is the beau ideal of 
the educator's task — to form, as far as human 
means can form, not merely the elegant classic, 
the profound scholar, or the able man of science, 
but the intelligent Christian, fit for all the duties 
of this life; a candidate, under Divine teaching, for 
the sublimities of a life to come. Let it not be 
thought enthusiasm to assert, that there is a 
Divine teaching beyond all that man can do for 
man. The truth, that man is the temple of the 
Divinity, it is the glory of revelation to proclaim : 
this sacred truth must always be before the eye 
of the educator ; he is a delegate from this high 
power — the visible agent to " prepare the way." 
These were the ideas and feelings which ac- 
tuated De Fellenberg when, forty years ago, he 
revolved within himself the subject of a Christian 
regenerating education, yet philosophic and ra- 
tional. It was Christian in its principle, and 



188 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

philosophic in method, for it was founded 
upon the actual facts of human nature, the minute 
dispositions of man, his deplorable miseries and 
crimes, and the probable remedy for them, in a 
more careful and a more rational training. He 
stood forward as the asserter of the principle, that 
the highest end of education is the elevation of 
character. In his three schools he has adopted 
this principle, and made all arrangements sub- 
servient to it. One of the most powerful cements 
of society is the influence of one individual, and 
one class, over another ; and this influence is one 
of character, not of mere rank, or wealth, or even 
intellect. Character commands and rivets the 
affections of mankind, and binds the poor to the 
rich, the labourer to the employer, and the 
people to the government. 

These principles cannot be developed in two or 
three years ; and although education never ceases 
going on, from the cradle to the grave, preparatory 
to another state, yet those periods which Madame 
Necker de Saussure has so well classed as child- 
hood, adolescence, and youth, especially require 
the guidance, preparation, and protection which 
can only be found in such an institution as 
Hofwyl. It fosters talent, it points out the 
path to distinction, but it also nourishes the 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 189 

humbler, yet no less valuable, qualities so often 
crushed, or left to struggle into existence as best 
they may. Eight years are not too many to be 
passed at Hofwyl ; and I speak from experience 
when I tell you, that by placing boys there 
early in life, time is saved, and money also; 
to say nothing of the difficulties spared to the 
pupil himself, by an early adoption of the habits 
which are so necessary to the development of 
every faculty and disposition. You know the 
expense of education in this country, and this is 
unfortunately a consideration which often compels 
the best parents to adopt a course very different 
from that which their judgment approves. I do 
not now allude to that parental ambition which 
desires to send sons to public schools, under 
the idea that they there form connections which 
will hereafter promote their career in life. This 
is a well-meant but mistaken ambition. The 
instances in which such hopes are realised are 
very few, and are always noted and remem- 
bered ; while the many disappointments are un- 
observed and forgotten. I now allude to the 
parental considerations which refer to the moral 
safety of children. However excellent the in- 
dividual who is at the head of a large es- 
tablishment, and however above mere mercenary 



190 LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 

considerations, he cannot compass the complete 
guardianship that is required. Schools are 
matters of private speculation ; they are not 
undertaken to advance the interests of mankind, 
but to maintain and increase the fortune of an 
individual. I do not deny that this individual 
may love his fellow-creatures, and that he may 
honestly and laboriously endeavour to fulfil his 
vocation ; but where is the fortune he is to risk 
in the enterprise? — what must be the amount of 
remuneration he is to receive ? True, M. de 
Fellenberg has established an educational insti- 
tution which has successfully carried out the 
greatest principles, and he has done this with 
attention to the pecuniary and economical results, 
or he would have failed ; but he sought no profit, 
he devoted the inheritance of a Swiss nobleman 
to the object, together with his time, ability, 
and energy; all pecuniary emolument which 
might accrue has been expended in increasing 
the educational advantages of the institution, 
not in adding to the income of the founder. 
Neither was it his object to leave a large property 
to his family, for he offered to make Hofwyl the 
property of the government. He had but one 
design, — to raise the condition of his fellow men. 
He nourishes the hope that his example will 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 191 

be followed: the seed is scattered abroad, but 
there is still but one Hofwyl ; there is yet no 
other seminary including the three orders of 
society, bestowing on each the instruction fitted 
to their stations, and an education which shall 
make that instruction profitable (I use the term 
in its widest sense) to the individual and to 
society. Pecuniary speculation will never ac- 
complish what is effected at Hofwyl; but ability, 
disinterestedness, and benevolence, united to 
capital, may. We have in England wealth and 
talent equal to the accomplishment of great 
enterprises; their application has already placed 
us first among the nations : we have benevolence 
and energy which have broken the bonds of 
the slave. " You have accomplished the eman- 
cipation of millions of your fellow-creatures," 
said M. de Fellenberg to me, yesterday ; " have 
you no minds amongst you equal to the task 
of emancipating mankind from that worst of 
bondage, ignorance?* The condition of your 
working classes, the demands of those calling 
themselves Chartists, the thoughtless dissipation 
of the rich and powerful, the restless discontent 

* " If the spirit of the founder of Hofwyl should be caught 
by any kindred mind, similar institutions may arise." (Professor 
Scheidler.) 



192 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

of some, the selfish money-getting spirit of others, 
betoken a state of things needing a deep and 
searching amendment." 

But this amendment cannot be soon or sud- 
denly effected ; and it can only be brought about 
by an education which, by improving individuals, 
will eventually leaven the whole mass. It is an 
opinion expressed by most of the writers on 
Hofwyl, that even were its existence as an edu- 
cational establishment altogether to cease, it has 
effected permanent benefits* upon society; but 
the intentions of its founder will be unaccom- 

* " At Berne we spent much time in conversation -with M. 
de Fellenberg, at Hofwyl. We -visited his great establishment 
for education there, as well as the normal school at Munchen 
Buchsee, in which visit we were accompanied by M. de Fel- 
lenberg. What we learned from the conversation of this pa- 
triotic and high-minded man, we cannot find space here to say. 
His words are better read in the establishments which he has 
founded, and which he superintends, and in the influence which 
his example and his precepts have had on the rest of Switzerland 
and on other parts of Europe." — Dr. Kay and Mr. Tuffnell's 
Report on the Training School at Battersea, pp. 206, 207. 

" In the orphan schools which have emanated from Pesta- 
lozzi and De Fellenberg we found the type which has assisted 
us in our subsequent labours. In walking with M. de Fellenberg 
through Hofwyl, we listened to the precepts which we think 
most applicable to the pauper class. In the normal school of the 
canton of Thurgo-via, and in the orphan schools of St. Gall and 
Appenzell, we found the development of those principles so far 
successful as to assure us of their practical utility." — Ibid. 
207, 208. 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 193 

plished, if it do not serve as a model to his own 
and to other countries. Surely I am not too 
sanguine in the hope that Switzerland is yet to 
be the nursery of education ; and when I see the 
steam-vessels, the railroads of England, Prussia, 
Belgium, France, and Germany bringing Swit- 
zerland nearer to these countries ; when I reflect 
upon her local advantages, her educational means, 
and remember what she has already done for 
education, I can but believe that all things are 
working together for good, and that as she is the 
country where liberty has existed in its purest 
forim she will also be the land whence Europe 
will derive her Second Reformation. 



k 



194 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 



LETTER XIII. 

Although the High School has been of the 
greatest personal interest to me, yet I Avould not 
omit all description of the Real Schule, or Middle 
School. It is governed by the same high prin- 
ciples ; constant and regular occupation, alternat- 
ing between mental and bodily exercise, and 
strict watchfulness over character, conduct, and 
conversation, allowing the freedom without which 
the individuality of the pupil could neither be as- 
certained nor respected. Instruction is given in 
all the branches of knowledge which the pupil 
will require in his future career ; a general culti- 
vation of the faculties, with a practical application 
of what is learned, forming the governing princi- 
ple of all teaching. In the prospectus of this school, 
Fellenberg observes, that in the commencement 
of his enterprise, and amidst all the labours and 
difficulties which have attended his progress, the 
unchanging object of his thoughts and wishes has 
been the improvement of his native country. It 
is his opinion, that in a country like Switzerland 
a deep national feeling cannot be cultivated more 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 195 

effectually than by the establishment of general 
institutions for education, in which the youth may 
imbibe the principles and feelings of patriotism, 
instead of the narrow spirit of a canton. He has 
hoped to contribute to this object by rendering 
Hofwyl a point of union for the youth of Swit- 
zerland, and preparing for them an institution 
conducted upon sound religious and patriotic 
principles, independently of all political jealousies. 
Such were the views which led to the establish- 
ment of the Real Schule. It is designed for the 
children of the middle classes of Switzerland, — 
farmers, small proprietors, men of business, pro- 
fessional men, and persons whose means do not 
allow them to give their children an education of 
accomplishments, and who do not wish to have 
them estranged from the simplicity of the paternal 
mansion. 

I have copied a Stunden plan, where you will 
see the nature of the occupations, and the distri- 
bution of time. It shows the employments of 
several classes ; not, as in the Plans already given, 
those of one individual : — 



K 2 



196 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 





i a I - 
-d . » ^ fan 




• to 


■^r 


to 


bb 

d 

1 

(4 

ft 




-a 


, £o-b- 


-a -2 
si >< 


13 
(M 




-a 13 a 

t- CO . g H? 


bo 

O +i 

CO si 

C5 fe 




9 


<" d - -<J .2 


d CN 


.s 


rn" 0>f 


CO 


C 


03 


to co to to a £*> 

in d <S ic Hfl 

Ij M si si 11 3 


« * » 
si fe si 


13 

a 


to co a _^ 

ID 31 P 13 

si si o a 


CO CO CO a _^ 
to CO r H B 13 

S3 S3 05 CO a 


CO CO 

si s5 


to 
si 


s 

CO 






















O OOWk 


O 3 


co OOH t» 


OO WcM 


3 5 


3 


w 


U s 






w s-a . 


g* ,d" &b ^ 


ca te 


bb 


B 

£ 

3J 


«" 


"' te — ' 

rt <» £ 


a 


1 - § §^ 


^ i3 "5b ^ 

O < a 


o 

O) 

o 


IS 


to o tc .S a 
J "So 8 W § 




.9 


- -co 9 
f<o 1/j ,,H 


*j of 


co" 


C5 


fci 


to JJ to CO 

si Pm s3 si 


>> 

a 


to co to a ^> 
to ,k co H n3 
_rt v5 _s3 _cw a 


co co a ^* 
to to d 13 

ci d co a 


a, .a to 

to M to 


CO 
CO 

■2 


s 

0) 






















3 3 W 


5 33 


i» O VN(» 


5c3w co 


o o 


3 


s 




1 t/1 


"" J 




"*" § . 


a -a rt * 


ft 


"si 


a 

£ 

CD 


si- 

■a 




n3 .-S 

a ti 

si ^<< 






co t< t? 


to 


3 


- . of S ^ 

to © to .<2 a 

c§'fabcs W § 


8 "* 


.9 


^ - d 

CN CO ■« 


r-T ^ 


co" 


o 


J3 


to g CO 


a 


co co a _^> 

CO r K H 13 

si 05 ^oj 3 


CO 05 >> 

to co i3 
si si a 


CO CO 

to co 

S3 S3 


to C8H 


a 






















O Q H 


O 3 


OQ 


3 W M 


C5CJ t» 


3 o 


o 


w 




jl j ,d .-d 
■5 9 « £ 


of 

1J 




■T to 
■^r co 


. -d d . 


s ^* 




a 


■3 


+5 o a »» 
sh a) a> 


a 

CM 


- '£ -d 

w a M « 


.a "B "? »S 




c3 

£ 
>- 

co 


cut 

g 


rt.JcNTH a 


^ d Ol 


a ^ a d 


- -Q .9 


^T,d « 


+J CO 


O 


1 


co co co co ^> O 

B rt O) IB'C) O 
Si H Si Si H ^ 


CO 2h m 

S3 fc si 


co co a _^ 

to to B 13 
cci si co a 


co ?3 to 
S3 bC S3 


a » 


£ 

CO 




















O OOa5 


O O 


0D O W <» OOS * 


O O 


o 


a 




1 CO 

d .a 


«" J S 




- O 13 

« -• a i: 
a oi co 

•< S3 tn _. 


*"4 rt ' 


^ fe' 


feb 
o 

CO 

O 


a 


M 

■a 


95 te J 


S3 j4 <; «w 


>d 

a 

CM 


.ti d x 

C co 5 


» 2 
ft 


c3 
CO 


co 

3 


a ■*£ 


_ « - ° 
1-1 d -* 






<j of 


CO 


C5 


H 


» § «.-2 a 

S3 bC £§ hH CO 


co 2 co a 

co r™ to a 
S3 W S3 cy 


o5 i? 
3d 


to co a _^* 
co r k a 13 

siU t> a 


CO CO £> 

to to i^ 

cS si a 


co .a co 

sS si 


to 

si 


£ 

CO 


















3 G w 


3 5h 


m|0 H t» 


OO co 


3 3 


3 


W 


s? 

■a 
□ 
o 


■ CO 

■J .a 

» S- a 
OS ,£ -3 

co . .tj 

d m • 

to o co .S3 a 

CO ••-< tO M W 

si bo si 35 co 


■s -b 8 

1-1 a •* co 


" a 


pa g 


■5 a $C- 

•- ° .9 ^ 

^°.g d 
^co-^- a 


£ bb 

S3 O 

!-i CO 

Q C5 

H l?f 


"si 
CO 


d 

C3 

£ 

- 

CO 

o 


s 


to 2 CO CO 


T3 O 

a ^ 


co co a J? 2 

co ,k B 13 O 

SW o 3 h 


co co a _^> o 

to co B 13 O 
si d 4) 3 t, 


CO CO 

S3 c§ 


|s 


1 






















o o w 


3 OOta 


5 Woo 


OOWdo 


3 3 


3 


w 


3 

o 


iO«CO 


r- S oo 


00 2 OS 


0,32 


O 


O — i 








LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 



197 









ench. 
ch. 

o. 3. 

story. 

1. 


s 














a 

CO 


^u 




a 
o 


£ 3 r?5 jjj eo 


a 6b 


p 










p 
o 


«! 


03 
13 

a 


1h 

cb 
R 




cu 

Sh 
53 
CB 


•>£ P ., PI 

CO ™ "* CN -pH 

to a >> c« _^> 

co H 13 I to pd 

^ « ss a 


•^ PI 
03 "fl 
CB 43 


C3 

i- 
W 








i- 

CB 

Cm 
Cm 


"o3 
CB 
u 
w 

CB 


bu 

p 
'S 

CB 

> 


o 


ft 


rt 


OH t2|0 do 


P=| 


Pd 








m 


Ph 


w 


CO 

(3 
B 


cu 
(S 

s 


P 

.2 
"S 

<u 

t. 
u 

cu 

03 


pd ~! 

w pH .„ 

co p >tS 
03 cu a 

53 od 


fN 

§ tig « 

t>o . ■" 
co n p _£> 

B'H B Pp 

o3 co ^ g 
3 H do 


o 

pi eJo 
.2 a 
"El'pS 

h 03 


^> 
Ph 

CO 

C3 


&b 

o 

CB 

o 

CN 

CO 
CO 

03 

3 


a 

o 

CB 

o 

CO 

CO 

n 

3 


bbi 

P CB 
I 




u 

CB 

Ch 
Ch 
P 

co 


-? a 

1 .2 

CB cp 
pP - 
CB CB 

5- CB 

O PS 


a 

be 
P 
"3 

CB 
> 








CO . ** 


6i> . « 

.a a a _: 


o 


rCJ 


a 

O 


pp 
p 


bb 
P 




•a o o 


a 

CO 


CO 

IS 

a 

I 


in" 


a 
5 


.a o -h w " 

CO 03 _. 
rt CO "^ ,rt 


•11 

ts 'pd 


of 


CB 

co" 


H 
•* 


l.a 


in' 


CO ^* ,rt 


-< 

bfi 

p 


£ 
p 


01 

p< 

o 

CU 


05 rf £ i? 

co P co p3 

CS CB CIS p 


CO - CO p _^> 

CO CO P T3 

03 03 cb p 


U 03 


CO 

ca 


CO 
03 


CO 

c§ 


a-3 

cu a 


Ch 

Ch 


CO to J?> 

co co 13 
_o3 03 p 


p 

CB 

> 


© 


ft 


3So» 


O OWco 


Ph o 


O 


O 


Wco 


P 

CO 


Cj3 02 








-d „ pj 


CO 


u -a 












a 

O) 

CO 
CO 

< 

be 

a 

'a 
> 


CO 

03 

g 
1 

© 


CO 

a 

a 

3 


p 

.2 

ts 
cu 
Sh 
o 
cb 


§pd~ . 

H s^ _. 

w • " '£. 

co ri co JT> 
co P co >T3 
ccj cb ccS p 

OHOM 


03 . P » 

ca +j g ph 
S .3 - « a 

O _g co co W 

gco J J P 
H OOdo 


Jpf 

|| 


CJ 

P 

CB 

cf 

CO 
CO 

03 
5 


1 
Eh 

ft 

ci 

CO 
03 

3 


a 

o 

CB 

o 
a* 

CB 

H 


p-> 
13 
P 


(h 

CB 
Ch 
Ch 

P 

CO 


W W CC r^i 

K) W CO r^ 
03 C3 C3 r-J 

333co 








-=1 - PH° 

2-d 


'S pptg 


O 


a 


60 


CO 
CB 


6b 

p 




d-s rt 


i 


CO 

S3 

a 


CB 

p 
a 


a 

.2 

C3 
CB 

tn 

o 

CB 


CO . "- 

co a >» 

CO P ri-J 

-S " a 


Jcoco^ fl 

a .3 a a ^ 


S- 03 


c 

CB 

o 


. O 
P^ 

Sh CO 


CO 

!>» 
pP 

Ph 

CO 
CO 
CO 

ca 


pe 
03 
f-. 

ft 

a 

OB 


tn' 

CB 
Ph 

a- 


8-e J 
. p. « 

CN CO "* 
CO CO _^» 
CO co n3 

o3 ea p 


en 

be 
P 

'3 

CB 


© 


W 


Pd 


OH do 


O OKdo 


OS 


u 


CJ 


O 


W 


CO 


CJCJ M 


w 


CO 

CO 
03 

a 

a 

P. 


£ 


p 
.2 
Is 


CO*"* pH "H 


gpd co 

* -o a 
** "* • "t^ 

co co a -S 1 

CO CO P *& • 

03 03 CB p pH 


o 

•a .a 

"os'pP 


CO 

O 
'co 
>, 

rP 


a 

O 
CB 

o 

cn" 


bb 
o 

CB 

bbO 
P 

^ CO 


bb 

.a 


!-' 


■5 a" 

.s o o 

H CB (4p 


a 

CO 
CO 

be 

p 


a 


CB 

S- 
O 
CU 


CO Q CO _^> 
CO P CO po 
03 CB 03 p 


CB *J 
t, 03 


CO 
CO 

cd 


CO 
03 


g CO 
J? CO 
P 03 


a 

CB 


Ch 

Ch 


03 W ^2 

co .co t3 O 

o3 o3 a I* 


P 

CB 
p» 


© 


ft 


CZ 


OWOrBpOWoa 


M 


o 


O 


CJ 


H 


CO 


cJOco 


w 


© 




CM 


eo 


■* 


>o 






CO 






00 




*" CN 


rN 


o 


o 


o 


o 












o 


oo 






-H 


+j 


















•~< 




1-H 


CN 


CO 


^f 






vn 






t^ 





K 3 



198 LETTEKS FROM HOFWYL. 

" The recent examination of this school/' says 
Mr. Woodbridge, " furnished ample evidence of 
the utility of the course pursued. The pupils ex- 
hibited a familiarity with the various subjects of 
instruction, which proved they had not been 
merely impressed on the memory, but rendered 
clear and visible to the mind. I have been pecu- 
liarly struck with the influence of the simple 
methods of instruction adopted here on the feelings 
of the pupils : receiving one simple truth after 
another, in an order perfectly natural, they never 
imagine that they have any remarkable superiority 
of knowledge to others: not pretending to be 
superior, they feel little comparative anxiety 
about the opinion of their auditors; and accus- 
tomed to familiar and colloquial instruction, and 
to indulgent explanations of their errors, and 
conscious of their desire to learn, they say what 
they think with a corresponding familiarity and 
fearlessness, and receive the correction of an error 
without any mortification, if it be not the result 
of their own thoughtlessness or forgetfulness. It 
is due to this institution to add, that I have found 
here more effort, and more success, in animating 
the daily life of the pupils with the spirit of 
Christianity, than in most others where the tone 
of religious instruction and habits is more in 
accordance with my own views." 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 199 

The pupils of the Real Schule are chiefly 
Swiss and Germans: there is one English boy 
amongst them, and he expresses himself perfectly 
happy. If more English pupils were sent hither, 
an English master would be added to the present 
number of teachers. The subjects taught are of 
universal application, and it matters little what 
is the language in which they are acquired. The 
moral security of the boys, the habits they acquire 
of constant useful occupation, the simple tastes, 
the refinement which belongs to rational mental 
cultivation, united as it is to hardy habits, few 
wants, and innocent pleasures, — all these would 
form, I should think, a great inducement to Eng- 
lish parents whose station and property oblige 
their children to depend upon character, conduct, 
and practical ability for success in life. It may 
also be worth consideration whether our growing 
relations with the Continent will not open a still 
wider field for British enterprise; and whether 
an acquaintance with foreign languages, a fami- 
liarity with foreign modes of life, and, above all, 
a freedom from national prejudice, will not be 
found important and valuable adjuncts in the edu- 
cation of lads whose heads and hands will be 
equally called upon for capability and exertion. 

The household arrangements are more simple 
K 4 



200 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL, 

than those of the High School, and are, I be- 
lieve, similar to those which would be found in 
the families of the pupils. I one day visited the 
kitchen just before dinner, and found soup, meat, 
vegetables, and bread (of the same quality as 
those served at the table of the Grande Maison) 
about to ascend to the dining-room by machinery 
resembling that used in the latter house. The 
head master is a married man, and his wife has 
her duties in the school. The dormitories are so 
arranged as to give a single bed to each boy, and 
a master sleeps in each room. There are several 
class-rooms, and the boys are classified as in the 
High School, according to age and advancement. 
Some of the professors employed in the High 
School give instruction in the Real Schule; for 
instance, the drawing-master, singing-master, 
writing-master, and those who undertake the de- 
partments of Natural History and Physics. In 
one of the rooms there is a collection of various 
natural objects, botanical and mineral specimens, 
and parts of various trees, for the purpose of ex- 
hibiting the different grains in wood, and their 
application to mechanical purposes: these have 
been formed by the pupils themselves, and there 
are two clay models of Switzerland, similar to 
those shown at the Museum at Berne, which were 



LETTEES EEOM HOFWTL. 201 

made by the pupils some years since. They have 
their gardens, and sell the produce to the insti- 
tution ; and they attend the shops of the carpenters 
and agricultural machine makers. The Ileal 
Schulers enjoy their summer tour under the 
guardianship of their various masters. 

We observed the same attention to courtesy, 
respect for property, and mutual kindness, as we 
found prevailing in the High School ; we heard 
no quarrelling, and witnessed no tyranny.* The 
play-ground is between the barn and the bosquet ; 
but the climbing-poles, circular swing, &c, the 
manege, and the bosquet, are free to all. The 
pupils of the two schools mingle occasionally, and 
there are opportunities of intercourse, and those 
acts of courtesy which offer amongst the various 
classes in life. There are no distinctions which 
ean create feelings of degradation on the one 
hand, or domination on the other. The following 
anecdote will illustrate this statement. In an 
out-house opposite the Rural School were some 
young birds ; B., a pupil of the High School, 

* A foreign pupil remarked to Mr. Woodbridge, " that he had 
never seen brotherly feeling so prevalent among boys ; that he 
had been for several months in daily intercourse with 120 boys 
in the Middle and Rural Schools, and had not witnessed a single 
quarrel." 

K 5 



202 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

observed to me, " In England, amongst so many- 
boys, those birds would be pelted with stones : 
the other day, R. and I were throwing them 
some bread ; and the Real Schulers, thinking we 
were stoning them, came to expostulate with us, 
but were much pleased on finding we were feed- 
ing the birds." 

The arrangement of hours in the two schools 
tends very much to preclude any regular or con- 
stant companionship, and these have a better 
effect than prohibition. I have heard it advanced 
that there ought to be none of these distinctions 
during play hours : to this I can only reply, of 
what service would it be to accustom the different 
classes to an association which does not exist in 
society, and which would tend to disappointment 
in the formation of friendships that it would be 
almost impossible to maintain in after life ? The 
distinctions which society has established do not 
preclude the exercise of that brotherly love which 
the Gospel enjoins. 

Reports are made to M. de Fellenberg of the 
circumstances connected with the general and 
individual conduct of the pupils, and the evening 
assembly for prayers and retrospect of conduct 
closes the labours and pleasures of the day. I 
have already said, that any lad distinguishing 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 203 

himself for conduct and ability, partakes of many 
of the advantages of the High School; some 
amongst them, it is fair to expect, will become 
the future legislators and representatives of their 
several cantons. M. de Fellenberg desires to 
educate them to understand and fulfil their duties 
as the members of a free state, in the government 
of which all will have a voice : there is there- 
fore more nationality here than in the High 
School. But, with the additions which M. de 
Fellenberg has it in his power to make, the re- 
sources he has at his command, and, more than all, 
the determination he has always evinced, and 
which remains in full force, to render all he under- 
takes efficient, by conscientiously pursuing his 
great principle, to fit the education to the pupil ; 
with all these powers and appliances, the edu- 
cation of the Real Schule is framed, and can be 
modified, to meet the necessities of the middling 
classes of every nation, in the same degree as 
that of the High School is adapted to supply 
those of the upper ranks. 

You will find a further account of the Real 
Schule, or intermediate school, in Woodbridge's 
" Sketches," which will also give you abundant in- 
formation respecting the progress and management 
of the Rural School. This has been so often 
k 6 



204 LETTEES FROM HOFWTL. 

described, that I shall only tell you all I have seen 
confirms the statements and opinions already 
gone forth. M. de Fellenberg is engaged in 
completing a second large Rural School at the 
R-uti, a farm about two miles from Hofwyl. The 
buildings are on a vast scale, fitted for the purposes 
he has in view, namely, to give an asylum to the 
poor and destitute children of his canton, to train 
them to agricultural labour, and to bestow upon 
them an education which shall make that labour 
honourable and profitable to themselves and their 
country, and thus to convert into good and useful 
members of the community a class who, from 
early destitution or the profligacy of their parents, 
would otherwise prove a burden and a disgrace to 
the state. 



LETTEES FROM HOEWYL. 205 



LETTEE XIV. 

You will probably have concluded that the 
success of this institution has been promoted 
by the government of the canton, and by all of 
M. de Fellenberg's countrymen who regard edu- 
cation as important to the national advancement.* 
Offering as it does an industrial school, a model 
farm (which, while it trains the labourer to in- 
dustry, and instructs him in the best means of 
cultivating the soil, assists in defraying the ex- 
penses of the institution), and a normal school, 
one might reasonably expect that its value as a 

* " The government have given no manner of assistance, not 
even countenance, to Mr. Fellenherg ; hardly protection. The 
patricians accuse him of lowering the dignity of their order, by 
leading what they term a vie pedagogique ; that is, by devoting 
himself to the most dignified and virtuous of human pursuits, the 
propagation of virtue and the communication of knowledge. 
Every discouragement is given to him by the constituted au- 
thorities ; the existence of his institution is studiously concealed 
in the journals devoted to government, as they all are in that 
free state. Not even the common notice of an arrival is allowed 
to be inserted if the traveller is come to visit Hofwyl, although 
every such incident is sedulously chronicled if the stranger 
only comes to see Berne, or to pass through it." — Edin. Rev. 
vol. xxxi. 1819. Yet one of the most violent enemies of the 
institution, a magistrate of the canton, directed in his will that 
his son should be educated at Hofwyl. 



206 LETTEES EEOM HOFWTL. 

national benefit would be acknowledged, and the 
advantages it confers welcomed in the spirit of 
grateful patriotism. But, alas, no ! M. de Fellen- 
berg has had little sympathy from public men, or 
aid from public measures; indeed, he has been 
opposed by open hostility and secret intrigue : 
his plans have been alternately derided as the 
visions of an enthusiast, or denounced as schemes 
of personal ambition or avarice. By the aristo- 
cratic party he has been condemned as having 
degraded his rank, and adopted democratic views ; 
by the demagogues he has been denounced as an 
aristocrat, who would aggrandise himself and his 
order: he has found opponents on all sides, be- 
cause he would not adapt his political or educa- 
tional principles to the contracted notions of 
any party. Because he would not restrict the 
advantages of his institution to any one sect, 
he has drawn upon himself the condemnation of 
those well-meaning but narrow minds who confuse 
Christian principle with sectarian dogmas.* M. de 

* A -writer on Hofwyl in 1833 says, " Religion is inculcated 
in many ways : the boys pray together morning and night, and 
are taught to trace God's beneficence in every thing. Here bi- 
gotry has no resting-place ; and although difference of religious 
opinions exists to a great extent in Switzerland, it does not in- 
terfere with mutual good-will, nor with the morning prayer in 
common. But the tenderest consciences cannot be wounded ; 



LETTERS FROM HOEWYL. 207 

Fellenberg, on the contrary, respects the right 
of private judgment; and while Catholic and 
Protestant receive their religious instruction from 
their respective ministers, the spirit of charity in 
its purest form animates the community. The 
following passages, which have been gathered from 
M. de Fellenberg's various writings, sufficiently 
prove that one of the chief elements in the Hof- 
wyl education is its truly Christian character : — 
" In the instructions of Jesus Christ is to be 
found the substance of the theory of educa- 
tion — the best practical example for the edu- 
cator to follow. The mind of the child is far 
from being able to comprehend the Divine love 
of Christ, embracing all mankind with deep and 
inexhaustible sympathy ; or the unbounded love 
for our race evinced by his intense labour and 
sufferings. We cannot at first follow out this 
grand picture in all its details ; we must wait till 
the mind opens more and more, till its faculties 
as well as its feelings are developed. It is evident 
that religious truths should be taught not merely 

for while the children are taught to hear in mind how much, on 
the important subject of religion, a Christain of one sect believes 
in common with another, they are not allowed to neglect the 
peculiar doctrines of a church to which they belong, as a clergy- 
man of each instructs those of his own flock in its peculiar 
tenets." . . 



208 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

by rote, but by feeling and conviction, to the 
opening, the growing, and the mature mind. 
What is suitable for the man is not suited to the 
youth ; what is intelligible to the youth is not so to 
the child ; but if the child has not been taught to 
feel and believe the truth of the pathetic histories 
of the Bible, and to feel with all the good, and 
against all the evil, he will never give a hearty 
attention to, nor feel a hearty interest in, the 
higher principles which will afterwards be dis- 
played to him. Christ, then, as a model, is to be 
continually held up by the educator to his pupils, 
from the junior to the senior class, as the bright 
exemplar and illustrator of human conduct, till at 
last they are able to receive Him as their guide 
and Saviour, and the great head of the spiritual 
world. The best preparation for understanding 
and valuing the Christian revelation, is to implant 
its spirit in the heart of the pupil, and to accustom 
him to act it out in his daily avocations, studies, 
and pursuits. The young pupil must never be 
allowed to consider religion and religious senti- 
ments as things distinct and apart from his or- 
dinary life : instruction and practice, theory and 
action, must go hand in hand. From this early 
neglect of practice, and dependence on the incul- 
cation of mere precept, arise the constant imper- 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 209 

fections which we see in the conduct of persons 
anxious to do right ; and of which none are more 
sensible than themselves, when they have once 
begun to study their own heart." 

" We are of opinion that the present low state 
of morals in countries professing so pure, refined, 
and holy a religion as that of Christianity, is 
chiefly owing to the neglect of these grand prin- 
ciples of the Gospel in the education of youth : 
to their not being made the principal object in 
education; to their being postponed to the cul- 
tivation of mere intellect, Avithout any mixture* 
or very little mixture, of the heart and affections- 
It is, therefore, the object of this establishment 
to build up education upon the Gospel — upon 
practical Christianity, — to form from this the 
spirit of the school, of the teachers, and of the 
pupils." 

Perhaps there is no better proof of the influence 
of an education which takes the life of the Saviour 
as its example, and the Bible as its rule, than the 
spirit which has animated so many of the teachers 
it has trained. Wehrli, probably, stands foremost ; 
and it is a touching instance of the effects of his 
character, that the rural scholars at Hofwyl are all 
called Wehrli's, after their first beloved teacher. 
Wehrli brought the great requisites of an educator 



210 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

to his task — simplicity of habits, peace and con- 
tentment in virtuous exertion, love for his fellow- 
creatures, and, above all, faith in the power to 
improve human character, — a faith which, like 
charity, " beareth all things, believeth all things, 
hopeth all things, endureth all things." De Fel- 
lenberg's precepts and example strengthened these 
predispositions, and the long experience he gained 
at Hofwyl completed the character. You will 
find some anecdotes of him and his pupils in 
Woodbridge's " Sketches." He is now at the 
head of a normal school at Kruitzingen, on the 
Lake of Constance. Dr. Kay, in his " Report on 
the Training School at Battersea," describes his 
visit to this school. I copy the following extract 
from Werhli's address at the first examination in 
1837, and which, the Report says, " will best 
explain the spirit that governs the seminary. It 
may appear strange to English habits to assign 
so prominent a place in an educational institution 
to the following points ; but the indication here 
given of the superior care bestowed in the form- 
ation of the character, to what is given to the 
acquisition of knowledge, forms in our view the 
chief charm and merit in this and several other 
Swiss seminaries, and is what we have laboured 
to impress on the institution we have founded. 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 211 

To those who can enter into its spirit, the fol- 
lowing extract will not appear tinctured with too 
sanguine views : — e A well-arranged family circle 
is the place where each member, by participating 
in the other's joys and sorrows, pleasures and 
misfortunes, by teaching, advice, consolation, and 
example, is inspired with sentiments of single- 
mindedness, of charity, of mutual confidence, of 
noble thoughts, of high feelings, and of virtue. In 
such a circle can a true religious sense take the 
firmest and deepest root. Here it is that the 
principles of Christianity can best be laid, where 
opportunity is continually given for the exercise 
of affection and charity, which are the first virtues 
that should distinguish a teacher's mind. Here 
it is that kindness and earnestness can most surely 
form the young members to be good and intelli- 
gent men, and that each is most willing to learn 
and receive an impress from his fellow. He 
who is brought up in such a circle, who thus 
recognises all his fellow-men as brothers, serves 
them with willingness whenever he can, treats all 
his race as one family, loves them, and God their 
father above all — how richly does such a one 
scatter blessings around! — what earnestness does he 
show in all his actions — what devotion especially 
does he display in the business of a teacher ! How 



212 LETTEES FROM HOEWYL. 

differently from him does that master enter and 
leave his school, whose feelings are dead to a sense 
of piety, and whose heart never beats in unison 
with the joys of family life.' "* 

The sentiments thus expressed are those of an 
educator trained by De Fellenberg; while the 
principles which Dr. Kay describes as forming 
" the merit of several Swiss seminaries," have 
emanated from the founder of Hofwyl. 

I have seen a few details connected with the 
education of Edenhard, a schoolmaster near Ge- 
neva, which evince the strong perception of cha- 
racter that distinguishes M. de Fellenberg's mind, 
and his power of eliciting and cultivating the in- 
nate mental qualities, and applying them to their 
true purpose. Edenhard was originally sent to 
Hofwyl to learn to make the agricultural machines 
invented and applied by M. de Fellenberg. Some 
weeks after his arrival, certain improprieties of 
conduct obliged M. de Fellenberg to assure him, 



* The sentiments of the poet De Lamartine, and those of 
Werhli, the peasant's son, are in singular accordance. The former 
observes, in his " Pilgrimage to the Holy Land," " The harmony 
of a family is the secqnd soul of humanity. Modern legislators 
have too much forgotten this : they only think of nations and 
individuals ; they omit the family, the sole source of a pure and 
healthy population, the sanctuary of traditions and manners, in 
which all the social virtues acquire fresh vigour." 



LETTEES FROM HOFWYL. 213 

that, unless he corrected such habits, he must 
quit Hofwyl. These representations led him 
to exert a power over himself which eventually 
effected his reformation. M. de Fellenberg had 
for some time been desirous of establishing in the 
canton of Geneva an institution, similar to his 
own, for the education of indigent children. His 
views were not responded to as he had anticipated ; 
but he did not lose sight of his object, and when 
satisfied of Edenhard's improvement, he indulged 
the hope that this young man might become the 
means of forwarding his views. He therefore 
communicated his design to him, and the possi- 
bility of success. Edenhard seemed electrified 
by the description of the misery of children 
living amidst the refuse of society, and this in- 
sight into the importance of the benefits which 
might be secured to them determined him to de- 
vote himself to the cause. M. de Fellenberg then 
communicated with his friend M. Pictet, at 
Geneva, offering a teacher, a native of the canton, 
of a character promising to equal that of Vehrli. 
The offer was neither accepted nor declined ; still 
Edenhard continued firm to his determination. 
He wrote a most touching letter to his mother, 
expressing, with the filial piety that distinguished 
him, his fear that the resolution he had taken 



214 LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 

should afflict her ; he explained to her the nature 
of the good he hoped to accomplish in the interests 
of his fellow-creatures, the blessings that would 
result to her if he performed his duty as a Christian 
and a citizen. Madame Edenhard shed tears of 
joy over her son's letter, and carried it to two 
benevolent ladies, that they might know his 
intention. The letter circulated amongst their 
friends, and Professor Pictet informed De Fel- 
lenberg that a letter written by young Edenhard 
had convinced many of his countrymen ; that they 
had become enthusiastic in the cause ; and en- 
treated that he might immediately be sent to 
Geneva. M. de Fellenberg prevailed on them to 
allow the young man's education to be made more 
complete, and begged that three orphans might 
be sent to Hofwyl, in order to prepare them as 
the germ of the future school. All this was done; 
and Edenhard, at the fitting time, was placed at 
the head of a school, which has been highly suc- 
cessful, although circumstances beyond his con- 
trol prevented the accomplishment of all that he 
and M. de Fellenberg had contemplated. 

The establishment of an annual meeting of 
teachers, for instruction in their vocation, is 
amongst the most important benefits which M. 
de Fellenbero; has afforded to Switzerland. He 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 215 

commenced this course in 1808, at his own 
expense, inviting one of the most distinguished 
educators of the day to conduct it. Forty teachers 
of the common schools of the canton availed them- 
selves of the advantage ; some of them lodging in 
tents, for want of better accommodation. The se- 
nate of Berne sent a commissioner to report on the 
proceedings, and finally voted their thanks to M. de 
Fellenberg, and invited him to continue his exer- 
tions. Notwithstanding this approval, jealousy and 
intrigue went to work ; and when the invitation 
was renewed, in 1809, the teachers were forbidden 
to attend the course, on pain of expulsion from 
their office. The benefit was therefore offered to the 
teachers of the other cantons, who for many years 
continued to attend ; but M. de Fellenberg could 
only assist those of his own canton by receiving 
them as labourers, and thus enabling them to 
observe and profit by the instruction given in the 
Rural School. The formation of a new constitu- 
tion, in 1831, changed the condition of the 
Bernese government, and De Fellenberg became 
a member of the new Assembly. The following 
passage, introduced at his suggestion into the 
fundamental law, is another record of the prin- 
ciples which he has through life theoretically and 
practically promulgated : — " The welfare or woe 



216 LETTEKS FROM HOFWYL. 

of every state depends on the moral worth of its 
citizens. Without the cultivation of the mind 
and heart, true freedom is inconceivable, and 
patriotism is an empty sound. We must labour 
for our moral elevation, for the highest possible 
cultivation of the powers we have received from 
the Creator, if we would partake of the happiness 
which a free constitution should afford. The 
zealous promotion of this object is recommended 
by the constituent Assembly to all future legisla- 
tors, as holding a higher place in importance than 
all other objects." 

His political integrity exposed him afresh to 
open and secret persecution and opposition ; but 
in vain — his exertions were not for himself: 
and when has persecution subdued the energy 
which strives for the moral advancement of man- 
kind? 

M. de Fellenberg was appointed a member of 
the new educational department, but he found 
few persons able to enter into his comprehensive 
views. A teachers' seminary was, however, re- 
solved upon ; but it was decided, in opposition to 
M. de Fellenberg's remonstrances, that no teacher 
already employed should partake of its instruc- 
tion. In 1832, as the buildings were not 
prepared, he offered the use of those at Hofwyl, 



LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 217 

giving with his fellow-labourers all the aid in his 
power, and receiving no compensation but the 
cost of the teachers' subsistence. He received 
the thanks and approbation of the government, 
and in 1833 the course was more fully attended; 
yet the teachers were afterwards compelled to keep 
open their schools during the summer vacation, 
thus preventing them from repairing to Hofwyl. 
In 1834 the Department of Education established 
a similar annual course ; but as they prohibited 
teachers already employed, from attending, De Fel- 
lenberg continued his course. The numbers were 
less than in 1833, but they equalled the attendance 
upon the public instructor. The teachers, after 
one of these courses at Hofwyl, presented an ad- 
dress to M. de Fellenberg, from which I make the 
following extract. It was signed by 112 teachers 
of common schools, and addressed to " the worthy 
Father and Friend of the People " : — S( When 
we reflect that without education no true hap- 
piness is to be attained, and that this can only be 
secured by means of well taught and virtuous 
teachers ; and when we recollect that you have 
devoted yourself to the object without regard to 
the sacrifice it may require, — we must rejoice 
that this age is favoured with such a friend of 
his country ; and when we remember the kind- 
ness and friendship with which we have been 

L 



218 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

treated at Hofwyl, we are compelled to give you 
our affection as well as our admiration, and 
which will not diminish as long as our hearts 
shall beat, and our children shall learn to say, 
' So lived and laboured Father Fellenberg.'* 
We will not enter here into any particular 
statement of our views concerning the course of 
instruction we have received, which we shall 
in due time make known to the public: we 
will only say, for your own satisfaction, that this 
course has far exceeded our expectations, by its 
complete adaptation to practical life, by the skill 
and efforts of your assistants, and by the moral 
and religious spirit with which the whole has been 
animated. We have been led to enter with a 
fervent devotion into a sacred engagement, that 
we will live and labour in our calling in the 
spirit which you have exhibited, and thus prove 
to you that your noble sacrifices have not been 
vain. We are more deeply penetrated than ever 
before with a sense of the sacredness of our call- 
ing. We are resolved to conduct ourselves with 
prudence and caution, in affection and union, 
with unyielding and conscientious faithfulness, 
in the discharge of our duty, and thus to prove 
ourselves worthy of your Institution." 

* This title is habitually given to De Fellenberg by the Swiss 
teachers and youth who appreciate his character, or who have 
experienced his kindness. 






LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 219 

These meetings have been discontinued since 
1836, in consequence of the charge, that they 
were inimical to the endeavours made by the 
Bernese government in favour of its teachers, 
inasmuch as a considerable number of the latter 
preferred the course at Hofwyl to that given 
by the government : but as the government 
ceased to give instruction to teachers already 
employed, as soon as the meetings at Hofwyl 
were stopped (I conclude that they had yielded 
the point), M. de Fellenberg has, I understand, 
determined to recommence them this summer. 

The Cantonal Teachers' Society of Berne was 
formed during the first course at Hofwyl, in 
1832. In 1836 it numbered 500 members, a 
large number in a population of 338,000. At the 
third meeting of the society, a petition was unani- 
mously addressed to the council, entreating that the 
improvements aiForded by the summer courses at 
Hofwyl should not be taken away by the new 
and unnecessary demand for the services of the 
teachers at that season. Declarations were also 
unanimously signed, contradicting the accusations 
made against the teachers and the founder- of 
Hofwyl. 

In addition to these services to national 
education, M. de Fellenberg has facilitated the 
establishment of schools in different cantons by 
L 2 



220 LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 

inviting free communication, observation, and 
scrutiny towards his own institutions : he has 
received poor children gratuitously, and afforded 
to all the benefit of his experience. Many 
of the governments of Europe have at various 
times sent authorized persons to examine anil 
report upon the progress of the institutions at 
Hofwyl, with a view to the furtherance of 
national education. The Emperor Alexander 
of Russia was greatly interested in the enter- 
prise, and sent the Count Capo d'Istrias on a 
special mission of observation and inquiry. This 
celebrated man made many and long visits to 
Hofwyl ; several Russian nobles and princes 
were sent thither, at the desire of the Emperor, to 
be educated, and by his authority a Greek church 
was established in a neighbouring village, where 
the Russians might observe their own form of 
worship. Alexander did not live to establish 
similar institutions ; and I have understood that, 
before his death, a Russian of high rank, em- 
ployed by the emperor, at Hofwyl, having dis- 
graced the situation he held, revenged himself, 
when discovered, by calumniating the Institution 
and its founder, and thus retarding the advance 
of education in Russia. 

There are many Industrial Schools in Europe 
adopting some of the principles of De Fellenberg ; 
one of the most remarkable is that of the Marquis 



LETTERS FROM HOFWTL. 221 

Ridolfi in Tuscany. England has derived some 
advantages from the same source. The gross 
amount of the general benefit cannot be estimated, 
but it falls far short of the hopes of M. de Fellen- 
berg. He frequently expresses his surprise that 
he cannot find characters willing to undertake, 
and capable of accomplishing, all that he has done. 
" All I require," he says, " in the director of 
my Institution is practical power, and a belief 
in his vocation being from above. I ask but 
what I am conscious of possessing myself : why 
can I not find it elsewhere ? " So little aware is 
he of the great force of his own character, when 
compared with that of other men, yet so con- 
vinced of the universality of his principles and of 
the goodness of the cause, that he looks forward 
with confidence to the certainty of finding a fit 
successor. 

In speaking of Hofwyl and its founder, it is im- 
possible to forget the associates of his labours — 
his children. Resigning the usual occupations 
and privileges of their birth and station, they all 
labour in the vineyard, unostentatiously and faith- 
fully, cheerfully and patiently. They form the 
links which connect the discipline of school life 
with the influences which belong- to home. Did 
I not respect them so much, I should praise them 
more. You will ask, where is the mother whose 
L 3 



222 LETTERS FROM HOFWYL. 

influence and example must have been here ? Her 
virtues are now only seen in the conduct of her 
children, and she dwells in the memory of those 
who benefited by and could appreciate her strength 
of mind and self-denying character. While she 
lived, she seconded her husband's views and wishes, 
and devoted herself, as he has done, to the service 
of her fellow-creatures. I have told you much, 
but I have left much unsaid. You have sons to 
prepare for their difficult career : come and judge 
for yourself; come and breathe this atmosphere of 
industry, amongst those whose calling is no less 
sacred than that of the ministers of religion. You 
will witness the infirmities of human nature, and 
you will find failings and weaknesses; but you will 
see them treated as a means of education, not 
deplored as necessary sins, nor punished as objects 
of vengeance. You will find all ranks of society 
harmoniously moving in their several positions; 
neither tyranny nor slavery, neither oppression 
nor licence. Perfection is not for this life : but He 
who visited earth as our Saviour and example, has 
instructed us " to follow Him," and he has directed 
us to be as " little children." If, as I humbly 
believe, education can help to preserve the inno- 
cence He blessed, there will be less difficulty 
in after years in finding " the strait gate, and 
narrow path, which leads to everlasting life." 



APPENDIX. 



SKETCHES OF HOFWYL, 



THE INSTITUTIONS OF M. DE FELLENBERG 

CONTAINING A VIEW OF THE PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION, 
AS ADAPTED TO THE VARIOUS CLASSES OF SOCIETY ; 
IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A FRIEND. 

By the Rev. M. C. WOODBRIDGE. 



(Originally published in the American "Annals of Education,' 
in 1831, 1832, §•<?. £c.) 



APPENDIX. 



LETTER I. 

PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND. 

Germany and Switzerland were the first countries in Europe in 
which education assumed the form and name of a science — 
where the art of teaching and of training children formed the 
subject of lectures in universities — and where institutions -were 
founded devoted exclusively to the formation of teachers. 
The works written in these countries on the science of peda- 
gogy, as it is termed, are as voluminous and as able as those 
upon the science of chemistry ; and numerous periodicals are 
entirely employed in recording the progress, and describing 
the improvements in education. Such countries are a rich 
mine for the conductors of a periodical like the present ; and 
as we shall often refer to them, we deem it necessary to give a 
brief sketch of the principal systems of education which have 
prevailed there. In reference to intellectual education, the 
persons who were instrumental in producing the reformation in 
schools, in the last century, in these countries, may be divided 
into four classes — the humanists, philanthropists, the Pesta- 
lozzian, and the productive schools. At the restoration of 
learning in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the classics 
were brought out from the libraries of the cloisters in which 
they bad been buried. As they presented the only examples 
of exalted sentiments and elevated style which the secular lite- 
rature of the age afforded, they were regarded as the only- 
means of acquiring enlarged views and a liberal education ; the 
study of them received the proud title of humanity, and the 
zealous and meritorious men who employed this means for the 
revival of learning were subsequently termed humanists. The 
rigid humanists maintained that " the Greek and Latin authors 
are the only source of sound learning, whether in philosophy 
or rhetoric, in poetry or history, in medicine or law, and even 
in the elements of religion ; all has come to us from Greece 
and Rome." The learning of the Greek and Latin languages 
L 5 



226 APPENDIX. 

is the only foundation of a thorough education ; the know- 
ledge of the grammar ought to precede all other knowledge ; 
and philologists are the only thoroughly learned men." The 
humanists maintained the entire sway of the learned world 
until about the middle of the last century, when the school of 
the philanthropists arose. Disgusted with the extravagant 
manner in which the ancient languages were extolled, they 
were led to examine into the foundations of their pretensions. 
While they yielded the palm to the ancients in all that relates 
to matters of taste and beauty, they maintained that this supe- 
riority arose from the fact, that the ancients derived their views 
directly from the inspection of nature and the observation of 
man, instead of occupying themselves, as we do, with the mere 
pictures of them drawn by others ; they pointed to the obvious 
truth that the world is older and vastly more experienced than 
it was two thousand years ago ; that in regard to all that re- 
lates to human knowledge, the present generation are really the 
ancients. They contended that the youth of the present cen- 
tury is wiser in regard to every subject of science than the sage 
of Rome or Athens ; and that the means of improvement and 
enjoyment which the experience of twenty centuries has pro- 
cured for us, place us far beyond them in all that relates to the 
well-being of society and the happiness of individuals, without 
even taking into view the sublime and elevating system, the 
doctrines and the precepts presented to us in the Scriptures, in 
comparison with which, notwithstanding their many beauties, 
the philosophy of Greece and the mythology of Rome appear 
only like masses of folly and superstition, abounding with 
examples of disgusting licentiousness and horrid cruelty. But 
they were more occupied with the singular inefficiency and the 
striking defects of those who thus lived and breathed in the 
atmosphere of antiquity, in all that relates to the practical and 
useful purposes of life. They believed that much time was lost 
by the indiscriminate and exclusive use of the classics as the 
foundation of education, which ought to be spent in the ac- 
quisition of practical knowledge ; and that by this tedious and 
laborious task, without any perceptible advantage to the pupil, 
they were often disgusted with every species of intellectual 
effort. They also pointed out the moral corruption which 
arises from many of the examples and sentiments of the an- 
cients, and especially disapproved that discipline of compulsion 
and violence by which children have been forced to this un- 



APPENDIX. 227 

grateful employment. They urged the importance of leading 
by the attraction of knowledge itself, rather than by force ; 
they paid much attention to the development of the bodily con- 
stitution and powers, and professed to aim at forming men, and 
not mere scholars. But with the ordinary weakness of human 
nature, in avoiding one extreme, they ran into the opposite. 
They forgot the valuable influence of these studies, properly 
regulated, upon the faculties and habits of the mind. In seek- 
ing to render their pupils practical men, they employed them 
in accumulating a large mass of facts and principles in nature 
and in life, in the shortest, and easiest, and most agreeable modes, 
converting that labour which was necessary to invigorate the 
mind, and to prepare it to encounter the toils and efforts of life 
with cheerfulness and patience, into mere play, and filling it 
with a magazine of materials, instead of preparing it by the 
proper mode of exercise [as an instrument for employing them 
in the best manner. They also contented themselves too much 
with generalities in religion, which were not sufficient either to 
guide the intellect or to warm the heart. 

Notwithstanding their error, the philanthropists unquestion- 
ably exerted much influence on the improvement of education. 
The extravagant views of the humanists were considerably 
modified ; and although many still retain the exclusive maxims 
of their predecessors, many admit, as stated in the German 
"Conversations Lexicon," that "all should be embraced in 
education which can promote the formation of the man, and pre- 
pare him for the eternal destiny of his spirit." The philan- 
thropists also prepared the way for their successors of the 
school of Pestalozzi. This remarkable man adopted many of the 
opinions of his predecessors of the philanthropic school, espe- 
cially those which related to the development of the bodily 
powers, and the methods of discipline and religious instruction. 
He perceived, however, that in assuming practical utility as 
the exclusive test of the value of particular objects of instruction, 
they had too much neglected the development of the mind itself. 
In seeking to avoid this error, however, he did not entirely 
escape the other extreme. He assumed as a fundamental prin- 
ciple, that a certain development of mind was necessary for 
every rank and every occupation. The means of this develop- 
ment he supposed himself to have found, so far as the intel- 
lectual faculties were concerned, in the elements of form and 
number, which are combined in the science of mathematics, in 
L 6 



228 APPENDIX. 

language, and in natural history. The mathematics appear to 
have assumed a preponderance in practice, which was unfavour- 
able to the regular and harmonious cultivation of other powers. 
The senses and the bodily powers he endeavoured to develop 
in accordance with the views of the philanthropic school, by 
the careful examination of the various objects of nature and art 
which surround the pupil, by means of music and by gymnastic 
exercises, alternated or combined with labour. He was re- 
markably the creature of powerful impulses, which were usually 
of the most mild and benevolent kind, and preserved a child- 
like character in this respect, even to old age. It was probably 
this temperament which led him to estimate at a low rate the 
importance of positive religious truth in the education of chil- 
dren, and to maintain that the mere habit of faith and love, if 
cultivated towards earthly parents and benefactors, would of 
course be transferred to our heavenly Father, whenever his 
character should be exhibited to the mind of the cbild. The 
fundamental error of this view was established by the unhappy 
experience of his own Institution ; and his own example afforded 
the most striking evidence that the noblest impulses, not di- 
rected by established principles, may lead to imprudence and 
ruin, and thus defeat their own ends.* This principle, com- 
bined with the want of tact in reference to the affairs of common 
life, materially impaired his powers of usefulness as a practical 
instructor of youth. The rapid progress of his ideas rarely 
allowed him to execute his own plans, and according to his 
system too much time was employed in the profound develop- 
ment of principles to admit of much attention to their practical 
application. But, as one of his admirers observed, he seemed 
destined to educate ideas, not children. He combated with un- 
shrinking boldness and untiring perseverance, through a long 
life, the prejudices and abuses of the age in reference to edu- 
catioc, both by his example and by his numerous publications. 
He attacked with great vigour, and no small degree of success, 
that favourite maxim of bigotry and tyranny, that obedience 
and devotion are the legitimate offspring of ignorance. He 
lonounced that degrading system which considers it enough to 

* As an example of this, it may be mentioned that on one of those occasions 
(frequently occurring) on which he was reduced to extremity for want of the 
mean3 of supplying his large family, he borrowed 400 francs from a friend for 
this purpose. In going home, he met a peasant wringing his hands in despair 
for the loss of his cow. Pestalozzi put the entire bag of money into his hands, 
md ran off to escape his thanks 



APPENDIX. 229 

enable man to procure a subsistence for bimself and his offspring 
— and in tbis manner merely to replace bim on a level with the 
beast of the forest ; and which deems every thing loss whose 
value cannot be estimated in money. He urged upon the con- 
sciences of parents and of rulers, with an energy approaching 
that of the ancient prophets, the solemn duties which Divine 
Providence had imposed upon them, in committing to their 
charge the present and future destinies of their fellow -beings. 
In this way he produced an impulse, which pervaded the con- 
tinent of Europe, and which, by means of his popular and theo- 
retical works, reached the cottages of the poor and palaces of 
the great. His institution at Yverdun was crowded with men 
of every nation, not merely those who were led by the same 
benevolence which inspired him, but by the agents of kings and 
noblemen and public institutions, who came to make themselves 
acquainted with his principles, in order to become fellow- 
labourers in his plans of benevolence. It is to these companions 
of his labours, most of whom resided in Germany or Switzer- 
land, that we owe the formation of another school, which has 
been styled the productive school, and which now predominates 
iu Germany and Switzerland. It might, perhaps, with equal 
propriety, be termed the eclectic school, for it aims at embodying 
all the valuable principles of previous systems, without adhering 
slavishly to the dictates of any master, or the views of any 
party. It rejects alike the idolatrous homage to the classics 
which was paid by the humanists — the unreasonable prejudices 
of the philanthropists against classical and merely literary 
pursuits — and the undue predilection for the mere expansion 
of mind, to the neglect of positive knowledge and practical ap- 
plication, which characterised too many of the Pestalozzian 
school. The leading principle of this system is that which its 
name indicates — that the child should be regained, not as a 
mere recipient of the ideas of others, but as an agent capable of 
collecting, and originating, and producing most of the ideas 
which are necessary for its education, when presented with the 
objects or the facts from which they may be derived. On the 
one hand, they are careful not to reduce the pupil to a mere 
machine, to be moved by the will of his instructor in an assigned 
direction, or a mass of passive matter, to be formed by him ac- 
cording to his own favourite model ; but they are equally careful 
to avoid the extreme into which some of the preceding schools 
have fallen, of leaving him to wander indefinitely in a wrong 
direction in search of truth, in order to secure to him the merit 



230 APPENDIX. 

of discovery. They consider a course of education as divided 
into two parts — the period of development and the period of ac- 
quisition. In the first period, which they consider as particularly 
devoted to developing the faculties and forming the habits of the 
mind, in order to prepare it as an instrument for future operations, 
they employ the inductive process chiefly. Time is not here of 
so much importance as the habit of investigation and effort, 
which can only be acquired by meeting and overcoming diffi- 
culties. This period, which must be made longer or shorter 
according to the character of- the pupil, or the necessity that 
his circumstances in life may impose, is succeeded by the 
period of acquisition, in which the mind is more especially called 
upon to exercise the powers which have been previously developed 
and cultivated, in the acquisition of such positive knowledge as may 
prepare the individual for life and action. The inductive process 
is still employed as much as possible, not only because it has 
become for many cases the shortest and most agreeable, but 
because it is important to maintain the habits it has produced, 
and invigorate the faculties it has served to develope. 

But still it is far less employed than previously, and the pupil 
is never suffered to waste his time in attempting to create a 
science for himself, and thus depriving him of the benefit of the 
experience of sages and centuries. On the contrary, they deem 
his mind capable of being elevated even more rapidly by follow- 
ing the processes of patient investigation, by which the most 
exalted minds have arrived at results that astonish and delight 
him, and of thus learning to imitate strides which seem to 
him like those of a giant, and to cultivate those habits of un- 
tiring attention which the greatest philosophers have declared 
to be the principal source of that telescopic glance, that almost 
unerring power of discrimination, which seems to others so 
nearly miraculous. Such is the productive system, by which 
the powers of the pupil are called into complete exercise by 
requiring him to attempt a task unaided, and then assisting him 
in correcting his own errors or returning from his own wander- 
ings, before he is discouraged by the waste of time and the 
fruitlessness of his efforts. They distinguish carefully between 
knowledge and the means of obtaining it. To cultivate the 
senses, and present the objects which they are capable of 
examining, is to open to the child the sources of knowledge — to 
place before him a book which is ever open, and in which he 
may every moment read. This, they maintain, is the first and 
most obvious part of education, according to the dictates of 



APPENDIX. 



231 



common sense. It is one in which nothing but truth is pre- 
sented to him, and which, by calling his powers into constant 
exercise, ensures their improvement, and cultivates a spirit of 
investigation. On the other hand, to occupy him with the 
alphabetical signs by which we describe objects and their qua- 
lities before be has learned the things described, seems to be 
reversing this order of common sense. To employ him almost 
exclusively in learning letters, the mere signs of those words, 
■which are themselves only signs, by which we convey to others 
an imperfect idea of what we have seen and heard, leads him to 
value the sign more than the thing signified. He acquires the 
habit of using words and phrases which he does not understand, 
merely to gratify others, or excite their admiration. If en- 
couraged, as he usually is, in this exhibition of his parrot-like 
powers, he forgets that he should never use -words to express 
any thing which he does not know to be true. Is he not in 
great danger of thus taking the first step to falsehood and de- 
ception? or even to that odious feeling in regard to language, that 
it is merely an instrument for accomplishing our plans, or for 
defeating the plans of others, or even that refinement of a 
French politician, who defined it to be the great end of language 
to conceal our thoughts ? But especially he is thus led to resort 
to others for entertainment and instruction, instead of looking at 
the great books of nature and providence which his Maker 
has placed before him ; to seek for the elements of his know- 
ledge in the imperfect exhibitions which words necessarily give, 
and to depend entirely on the opinions and accounts of others, 
instead of seeing and thinking for himself. It is unnecessary to 
describe the peculiar importance of this latter circumstance in a 
government like ours, where all have a voice in public measures, 
and ought to be accustomed to act from unbiassed and personal 
examination. We can best illustrate our meaning by the prac- 
tical application of these principles. In teaching mineralogy, 
for example, instead of presenting a mineral to the pupil, and 
telling him its name, describing its colour, its texture, its hard- 
ness, its weight, its component parts, and its uses, he is called 
upon in the early stage of education to use his own senses, and 
not to rely indolently upon the account of others, whose eyes 
are no better than his own. As soon as he learns the names of 
colours and form, he must describe those of the mineral pre- 
sented. He is called upon to observe by trial its weight, and to 
test its hardness, and to compare it in all these respects with 
other objects known to him, or with other minerals presented. 



232 APPENDIX. 

When he has learned to discriminate with accuracy its peculiar 
qualities, his curiosity is naturally excited to know what it is 
called ; and it is only after he has made himself acquainted with 
the thing, that his efforts are rewarded by giving him the name. 
The ultra Pestalozzian would leave him in the same manner to 
ascertain its ingredients, and discover its uses : but in view of 
the importance of the practical application of knowledge, and of 
the loss of time which it would produce, this is deemed entirely 
unadvisable ; and as soon as the pupil is sufficiently advanced, 
he is taught what are its composition and uses, as facts dis- 
covered by others, which are important for him to know, but 
which he has not time to verify. 

In the same manner, in the mathematics, the pupil is first re- 
quired to unite lines into angles and figures, to observe the 
number and side of which these figures are composed, to learn 
the names by which they are distinguished, and to apply these 
definitions to the description of objects around him, and to 
questions on practical subjects. Thus, the question may be 
proposed, how to ascertain the dimensions of a triangular piece 
of land, to be given in exchange for a square ; or, in other words, 
how to convert a square into a triangle of equal dimensions. 
He would first be directed to divide a square, by a diagonal line, 
into two figures, and would be asked what these figures were, 
and what proportion they bore to each other, and to the square. 
He would immediately discover, from the equality of the lines 
which formed them, that they must coincide, and therefore be 
equal, and that the square was equal to two such triangles. 
He would then be asked if it were not possible that these two 
triangles could be united in a single one. His familiarity with 
drawing figures (previously acquired) would soon lead him to 
discover that they might easily be converted into a single tri- 
angle of the same height, but with double the base or breadth 
of the square ; and that the change proposed must be made in 
this manner. From this he would very easily be led to infer 
the general theorem, that a square is equal to a triangle of the 
same height and double the base ; and by retracing his steps, 
he would be able to furnish a demonstration of this truth with- 
out the aid of Euclid. These illustrations will be sufficient to 
show the general character of the productive system In the 
following articles on the school of Fellenberg, we shall have 
occasion to present it more in detail. 

[The second and third portions of Mr. Woodbridge's first 
letter contain the biographical sketch of M. de Fellenberg, 



APPENDIX. 233 

already inserted, and a detail of the various buildings, &c. at 
Hofwyl.] 



LETTER II. 

GRADUAL PROGRESS OF THE INSTITUTION. 

My dear Friend, — The principle, that gradual progress is the 
only sure progress, which Fellenberg applies to the education of 
children, he considers essential in forming an institution for 
education. Indeed, it cannot otherwise be fully carried into ex- 
ecution with the pupils themselves. If a large number of indi- 
viduals, of various characters, are collected together at once, 
under new circumstances and regulations, it is impossible to 
preserve order, without doing violence to the habits of some, 
instead of training and winning them gradually to the right 
course. This, Fellenberg believes, is often the cause of failure. 
He commenced the execution of his plans by associating two or 
three boys with his children, in his own house ; and he would 
never afterwards receive more than two or three pupils at once, 
that they might be left to fall insensibly into the habits of the 
school, without producing any effect upou its general state. In 
1807 the first building was erected for the Literary Institution. 
The number of professors, in a few years, gradually increased 
to twenty, and the pupils to eighty. After selecting and losing 
two instructors for the projected school for the indigent, he was 
entreated by a schoolmaster of another canton, inspired with en- 
thusiasm for his object, to employ his son in the execution of 
the plan. Fellenberg received the young Wehrli into his family 
in order to test his character, and before the end of the year 
was induced by his earnest request to place him, with three 
pupils gathered from the highways and hedges, in the farmhouse 
of the establishment. Here Wehrli partook of their straw 
beds and vegetable diet, became their fellow-labourer and com- 
panion, as well as their teacher, and thus laid the foundation of the 
Agricultural Institution, in 1808. About the same time, a school 
of Theoretical and Practical Agriculture for all classes, provided 
with professors of the respective sciences connected with it, was 
formed at Buchsee, at which several hundred students were col- 
lected. But experience satisfied Fellenberg that too many con- 
tented themselves with theoretical and superficial knowledge ; 
and he has since preferred to train young men by an experi- 
mental course in his own improved system of cultivation. In 



234 Appendix. 

the same year he commenced a more important part of his 
great plan — the formation of a normal school, or seminary of 
teachers. The first year forty-two instructors, of the canton of 
Berne, came together and received gratuitous instruction in the 
art of teaching. So great was their zeal, that, on finding the 
establishment was not large enough to receive them, they were 
contented to lodge in tents. But the rulers of Berne forbade 
their teachers to attend these instructions ; and since that period 
none have been received to prepare for instruction, except those 
who were employed at the same time as labourers. It was vi- 
sited by deputations from the governments of Switzerland and 
of foreign countries ; it became the resort of pupils from noble 
families ; and a number of young Russians, of the highest class, 
were sent thither by the Emperor Alexander to receive educa- 
tion. In a few years after, the political state of Europe led to 
jealousy in regard to the influence of Hofwyl on its pupils ; 
many states forbade the education of children abroad ; and even 
the patronage of Russia was withdrawn. Of late about one third 
of the pupils have been English, and the remainder Swiss. In 
1815 a new building was erected to accommodate the increasing 
number of the Agricultural School, the lower part of which was 
occupied as a riding-school and gymnasium. In 1818 another 
building became necessary for the residence of the professors, 
and the reception of the friends of the pupils ; and soon after, a 
large building, now the principal one of the establishment, with 
its two wings, was erected for the Literary Institution, which 
furnishes every accommodation that could be desired for health 
or improvement. In 1823 another building was erected, in the 
garden of the mansion, for a school of poor girls ; and in 1827 
the last building, designed for the Intermediate or Practical In- 
stitution. It is much to be desired that this example of slow 
and cautious progress might be imitated by those who are es- 
tablishing institutions in our own country, in place of collecting 
at once a large mass of discordant materials, without any pre- 
paration which can render them a solid basis for a well pro- 
portioned or permanent moral edifice. I am, &c. 

LETTER III. 

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION. 

In my last letter I gave you some account of Hofwyl, as it 
appears to a visitor. Among his first questions, he naturally 



APPENDIX. 235 

asks -what method of instruction is pursued at Hofwyl ? To 
this he is answered — there are principles peculiar to Hofwyl, 
but no peculiar methods; that on the contrary, they are as 
various as the subjects and the characters of the individual. 
He will be told that Hofwyl is designed to be a place of educa- 
tion, of which instruction is the means rather than the end. I 
know not that I can better exhibit the leading principles on 
which this education is conducted, than by comparing it with 
some of the plans which have been proposed by different classes 
of educators. Some propose, as the object of all their efforts, 
to communicate as much positive, knowledge as possible: 
they often produce living encyclopedias, unfit for useful acti- 
vity. Others perceive how little this accumulation of abstract 
knowledge avails in preparation for active life, and direct their 
attention almost exclusively to matters of a practical nature. 
On this plan, there is no small danger of producing mere in- 
struments for others — men almost incapable of original thought 
or independent action. Others perceive that both these plans 
fail in giving a man influence in the world, and seek to supply 
this defect by attending chiefly to those accomplishments -and 
exterior habits which may attract admiration. Each of these 
systems is obviously imperfect ; and those who are suitably im- 
pressed with the importance of the moral faculties and the future 
destiny of man, lament most deeply the utter neglect of these 
essential points in the systems I have described. But in seeking 
to avoid this error, they sometimes run into another. Sufficient 
care is not taken to adapt the nature and amount of moral nu- 
triment to the age and capacity of the child. His intellect is 
occupied, his memory is loaded with moral maxims and technical 
theology, instead of simple living truth — that truth which will 
" make him wise unto salvation." His mind is often wearied 
and his habits of sincerity endangered, by being called upon to 
perform, or participate in, protracted devotional exercises, to 
which neither his state of mind nor of body allow him to attend 
with profit. By some few, the treasures of science, and the 
beauties of nature and art, are neglected, and perhaps even 
treated as dangerous instruments of fostering pride, and che- 
rishing an undue attachment to earthly things. All that thirst 
for general knowledge, all that love of beauty in the objects of 
taste, which the Creator himself has implanted, is extinguished 
or left to expire ; and the intellect is suffered to languish, for 
want of that variety of objects necessary to the exercise and de- 



236 APPENDIX. 

velopment of its noble, its wonderful, faculties. By such an 
education, one may, indeed, be prepared for heaven, but he will 
be utterly unfit for the duties, and struggles, and trials of his 
previous course on earth. 

In each of those methods, some portion of the compound na- 
ture of man, and of the various relations he sustains to this 
world and to another, is neglected. In all of them, it seems to 
be entirely forgotten that the body also requires an education 
which shall render it capable of fulfilling its important destina- 
tion, as an instrument of the soul, and the medium of its influence 
on others, instead of impeding its development or restraining 
its activity by its weakness, or degrading it by the predominance 
of its sensations and passions. The jewel is carefully polished, 
but the casket in which it is preserved is treated with neglect 
or contempt. The moving power is accumulated to the highest 
point, but the wheels and levers by which it is to act are left to 
arrange themselves almost by chance, and it is not the fault of 
the educator if explosion and ruin do not follow. The founder 
of Hofwyl proposes a nobler and more extended view for the 
direction of his Institution : — 

It is to develop all the faculties of our nature, physical, intellec- 
tual, and moral, and to endeavour to train and unite them into one 
harmonious system, which shall form the most perfect character of 
which the individual is susceptible ; and thus prepare him for every 
period, and every sphere of action to which he may be called. Nor 
does he believe it possible to apply principles like those of phy- 
sical science to determine what kind or quantity of force is re- 
quisite to communicate a given momentum, in a given direction, 
to the mind or the heart of a child. Voluntary beings cannot 
be operated upon like passive matter. There must be a skilful 
adaptation of all the means we have at command, to the varying 
characters and states of individuals. Above all, he would not 
attempt to cut the gordian knot, or to form a coining machine of 
overwhelming power, from which beings should issue with the 
image and stamp of the manufacturer so strongly marked as to 
be visible to all, and to efface or obscure the peculiar features 
which the Creator has impressed. His object is, to develop 
and improve the being committed to his care, and to prepare 
him as soon as possible to govern and educate himself in con- 
formity with his high destiny. It is deemed of essential im- 
portance to maintain the due proportion of development in the va- 
rious faculties. " As often," says Fellenberg, " as I have observed 



APPENDIX. 237 

one faculty excessively cultivated at the expense of others he- 
longing to the individual system, I have found a crippled heing, 
an imperfect character, the invariable result. It is only by 
means of the harmonious development of every faculty of our 
nature, in one connected system, that we can hope to see com- 
plete men issue from our institutions — men who may become 
the saviours of their country, and the benefactors of mankind." 
To form such characters is more important than to produce 
mere scholars, however distinguished, and this is the object on 
which the eye of the educator should be fixed, and to which 
every part of his instruction and discipline should be directed, 
if he means to fill the exalted office of " being a fellow -worker 
with God." 

But it is by no means intended to form all according to a 
single model, or to raise all to the same degree of elevation. On 
the contrary, each child is considered as destined by Divine 
Providence to a particular sphere of mental and social activity, 
which is indicated by the talents bestowed on him, and the 
circumstances in which he is placed. " No educator," says 
Fellenberg, " should permit himself to misapprehend, or to per- 
vert according to his own contracted views, that which the 
Creator has thus ordered in infinite wisdom." He should seek 
not to create or to annihilate, but to develop and direct the fa- 
culties and dispositions of his pupils, in reference to the destina- 
tion thus indicated. It would be as absurd to employ the same 
occupation, or the same discipline, in the same extent, for each 
individual as to prescribe the same remedy in the same dose for 
every constitution. This intellectual quackery, like that which 
is found in medicine, is the most easy, and, unhappily, often the 
most profitable" to the practitioner, but it is often ruinous and 
always dangerous to the patient. You ask, with natural anxiety, in 
what manner does Fellenberg attain this object ? What is it which 
gives this pre-eminence to Hofwyl among the institutions of 
Europe ? If I were called on to describe to you the " kill or 
cure " methods of an empiric, or the succession of " beat and 
roll, and solemn pause between," to which a military drummer 
reduces every variety of music, the story would soon be told : 
but if I were to give an account of the delicate combinations, 
and endless variations of remedies and treatment, in the practice 
of a skilful physician, in a lazaretto containing patients in every 
stage of danger and disease and convalescence, — or the manner 
in which the musician manages the notes, and stops, and swells 



238 APPENDIX. 

of an organ, and combines low and high, quick and slow, ac- 
cordant and discordant notes, to produce the harmony which 
enchants us, — you would allow me a volume, and would suspect 
my capacity or my faithfulness, if I attempted to crowd it into 
a letter. You would naturally suspect me not less, if I were to 
attempt, in the same compass, to tell you how a skilful educator 
manages the mind, whose anatomy and physiology seem almost 
subjects for divination rather than observation ; or how he trains 
into harmony a set of feelings which surpass in number and 
contrast all the tones and variations of which music can boast. 
I must therefore refer you to future letters, in which I shall en- 
deavour, as circumstances permit, to present a detailed account 
of the leading principles of Hofwyl, as the only means in my 
power of giving you distinct ideas of a system of education 
which required months of examination. I am, &c. 

LETTER IV. 

GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN. 

It is a principle so generally admitted, that it seems almost 
trifling to mention it, and yet it is one the thorough application 
of which forms the most striking peculiarity of the Fellenberg 
institutions, that a child should never be employed in exercises 
which are beyond his powers, whether physical, intellectual, or moral. 
In regard to physical education, the truth of this remark is 
generally felt, as well as conceded, and it is considered cruel to 
require of the child what demands the vigour of later years : 
still, it is too often strangely violated. It is frequently for- 
gotten by parents and masters, that too long a continuance of a 
particular kind of labour, when the tender frame is just develop- 
ing itself, and yields to every impression, is not less injurious 
than violent exertion. It is entirely overlooked, both by the 
poor and the rich, that the confinement of the active body of the 
child, four hours in succession, to a single posture, and above 
all to that of the school bench, is as really doing violence to it 
as if it were called to excessive exertion. The limbs are often 
more enfeebled by imprisonment than by extreme labour. So 
with regard to intellectual efforts ; if the faculties are not suffi- 
ciently matured to obtain a given kind or degree of knowledge, 
to attempt to force it upon a pupil will either enfeeble his mind 
or only expose his defects, render him a mechanical, and often 
a ridiculous imitator of others, and waste the time in which 



APPENDIX. 239 

other powers might he developed in a higher degree. To use 
the words of Fellenberg himself, " it is folly to attempt to bring 
down to the level of a child's capacity what presupposes the 
intelligence of manhood, or to make an immature mind pursue 
the train of thought of the greatest men, as is often done in our 
classical and scientific schools : the infantile conceptions of 
great objects which are thus produced, are, in effect, an obstacle 
to its improvement ; and the important lessons to be learned 
from antiquity are thus debarred all access to the comprehension 
of the cultivated youth and the feelings of the mature man." 
In accordance with this principle, the pupils are classified in the 
institutions of Hofwyl, not according to their age, or the period 
of their arrival, or the amount of their acquisitions, but according 
to their maturity of mind and capacity for improvement. To 
pursue another course, is to produce discouragement in the more 
backward, and weariness in those more advanced. It leads both 
to indolence, and often excites bad passions. 

It is for this reason that, in the institution for the higher 
classes, the number of instructors is multiplied far more than in 
other institutions : for eighty pupils, twenty-four persons are 
employed in giving lessons. In the institutions for the poor, 
the same object is effected by employing the more advanced 
pupils in the instruction of those who are below them. 

For similar reasons, the state of the classes is constantly ob- 
served, and changes made whenever circumstances require it. 
If there be a pupil who cannot maintain his station without too 
great effort, he either receives aid in private or is transferred 
to a class corresponding to him in capacity. If another is found 
to advance more rapidly than his fellows, he is placed in a class 
more advanced, or additional employment is given him of ano^ 
ther kind. If neither of these expedients answers, a particular 
course of lessons is provided for his improvement. In short, 
the great object is, not to preserve an arbitrary order of studies 
or number of classes, or to employ an assignable number of in- 
structors. It is deemed the first, the indispensable duty of the 
educator, who takes upon himself the charge of a pupil, to pro- 
vide at all hazards for the welfare of the individual ; to furnish 
him intellectual as well as physical nourishment, of such quan- 
tity and kind as his circumstances require ; or if he find it im- 
practicable in a given case, to resign the charge. 

He deems it, in the same view, of great importance that the 
development should not be pushed on too rapidly ; and it was 



240 APPENDIX. 

remarked to me, by a person -who had long observed the Insti- 
tution, that one of those circumstances which distinguished Fel- 
lenberg from other educators was, " that he knew how to wait," 
and did not sacrifice the future to the present. The success of 
efforts to produce premature sages is often only apparent ; it 
may produce a temporary excitement, which will enable them 
to shine and to reflect great honour on the establishment ; but, 
like the paroxysm of a fever, it will be followed by a corre- 
sponding reaction. If our success is real, we shall only attain it 
at the expense of other faculties, by concentrating the vigour 
destined for the gradual development of all upon a single one ; 
or what is not less ruinous, by destroying that physical force 
which is necessary to enable the pupil to enjoy and use his 
acquisitions, and entailing disease or debility, which disqualify 
him for every species of useful effort, or render his life a series 
of sufferings. Nothing is more common than the remark, that 
early precocity is followed by mediocrity or inferiority in later 
years ; and almost all of those prodigies of childish intelligence 
which have excited astonishment and admiration, have usually, 
in later periods, disappointed the hopes entertained concerning 
them, and have seldom risen above the level of these infantile 
acquisitions. Still more frequent are the examples of premature 
death, or a debility even more distressing to the subject and to 
his friends, which adds another to the burdens of society, in- 
stead of furnishing it with an active, useful member. But in 
addition to this, the nervous irritability produced by this ex- 
cessive application, or by even the ordinary development of the 
intellectual powers, without a corresponding attention to the 
body, is extremely dangerous to the moral character in many 
respects. It produces a selfishness, a devotedness to our own 
occupations and success, utterly at variance with Christian bene- 
volence. It renders one impatient of those interruptions which 
duties to others demand, and it excites all the passions and ap- 
petites, both physical and moral, in an undue degree. Pascal 
and Pope both displayed astonishing precocity — the former 
never enjoyed a day's health ; the latter exhibited a melancholy 
example of personal deformity and mental irritability. I cannot 
but regard it as one of the most honourable trophies of Hofwyl, 
that it has rescued more than one youth who was on the borders 
of physical or moral destruction from these causes ; and thus 
has not only merited the civic crown, but, what is more import- 
ant, has established the possibility, and indicated the methods, 
by unwearied vigilance and perseverance in the use of simple, 



APPENDIX. 241 

energetic means, of saving those whose health was ruined. It 
is of no less importance that the moral development of the 
pupil should not be pushed too rapidly. In general, faults 
established by long habits or strong propensities cannot be sud- 
denly corrected without violent means. A change thus pro- 
duced is often followed by a powerful reaction, and can seldom 
be radical or permanent. Such, indeed, is not the usual mode 
of operation of Divine Providence, which leaves us to learn 
wisdom by a series of failures. On this subject Fellenberg 
remarks : " We should never forget, in the performance of our 
task, that every right course in life is surrounded by a million ,| / 
of possible wrong ones ; that in an institution for education, we 
have to do with uneducated persons. We should remember, that 
in many cases, the inevitable necessity of nature requires that 
we should be taught how to walk by a succession of falls." 
Above all, puerile follies and faults must be patiently endured, 
and mildly treated, until the pupil acquires that perception of 
their impropriety, and that power of self-restraint, which results 
only from age. We perceive at once, that the infant of a few 
days is not culpable for the excessive indulgence of its appetite, 
or other animal propensities, because we perceive that its reason 
has scarcely begun to operate : but we too often forget that the 
child, and even the youth, is but an infant a little more developed ; 
that reason can only judge and act from experience ; and that 
its influence over the active propensities is only the result of 
habits slowly and painfully established, and which in the full 
maturity of our faculties and age are scarcely sufficient for our 
own government. 

The example of our Saviour himself, in the education of his 
disciples, teaches us the importance of applying this principle 
both to intellectual and moral subjects. How grossly erroneous 
were their ideas in reference to his character and destination ; 
how childish and unworthy their plans and their contests ; and yet 
with what slowness did He unfold the great truths He came to 
reveal ! — how much did He leave to be learned after his death ! 
— with what gentleness did He tell them, " I have many things 
to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now ! " — with what 
patience did He bear with their errors, their follies, and 
their sins ! — with what mildness did he generally reprove them ! 
Let the educator beware that he does not attempt to be wiser 
than his Master, and teach truth, and demand efforts, for which 
the infant mind is too feeble. I am, &c. &c. 

M 



242 APPENDIX. 

LETTER V. 

PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 

In a former letter I observed to you that the leading principle 
of Fellenberg's system of education is to develop all the facul- 
ties, physical, intellectual, and moral, and to endeavour to train 
and unite them into one harmonious system. Physical education 
occupies a most important place in the system of Hofwyl. Its 
object is to secure that vigour of body which is indispensable to 
the performance of other duties, and that permanent strength of 
constitution without which there is little hope of happiness or 
usefulness. It is justly regarded as the basis of success in other 
branches of education — the only means of ensuring to the pupil 
the power of employing, in future life, the acquisitions which he 
makes at so great an expense of time and labour. For those 
who have not felt the sad evidence of this, in years of debility, 
it is sufficient to point to the numbers of literary men who are 
annually obliged to abandon their pursuits, either partially or 
entirely, because the body is incapable of sustaining the mind 
in its efforts. They need only obsei've the multitudes of others 
who, with ample intellectual preparations, maintain with diffi- 
culty an artificial and painful existence, and whose physical 
debility prevents them from exploring depths of science, and 
soaring to heights of speculation, which they feel to be within 
their grasp, but pant in vain to reach. 

This object was of course a prominent one with. Fellenberg 
in the choice of a situation. Entirely removed from the un- 
healthy influences of a large town, Hofwyl is situated upon an 
elevation which is swept by every wind : its absolute height 
above the level of the sea is about 1600 feet. The cold is severe 
in winter, and the climate has that variable character which 
belongs to every elevated region. 'Such a situation may not be 
favourable for those who have come to maturity under a milder 
sky ; but I am inclined to believe that it is best adapted to form 
a constitution capable of resisting the frequent and rapid changes 
of most countries in the temperate zone. The pupils are accus- 
tomed to go out in all weathers bareheaded ; I seldom saw a 
great-coat used; and yet they enjoy vigorous and almost unin- 
terrupted health, with the exception of those little indispositions 
belonging to every cold climate. A native of the French West 
Indies arrived there during my residence, who had many symp- 
toms of a pulmonary complaint. It was not without many ap- 



APPENDIX. 243 

prehensions that I saw him placed in the Agricultural School, 
partaking of its homely fare and accommodations in a severe 
season. I saw him two years afterwards, with a countenance 
indicating comparative health, and a frame possessing a good 
share of vigour. The principal means of physical education 
employed may be reduced to pure air, a suitable diet, regular 
exercise and repose, and the proper distribution of time. In the 
Agricultural School the very nature of the establishment fur- 
nishes all that is necessary. In the higher schools, artificial 
means must be provided to counteract an artificial excess of in- 
tellectual life, in order that the rich may enjoy an equal oppor- 
tunity to secure the first blessings of this life. Every method is 
employed to induce, and even to compel, the pupils to spend much of 
their time in the open air. Extensive play-grounds — small 
gardens appropriated to their use — a collection of all the imple- 
ments for labour and amusement, both for winter and summer — 
a wood, which serves as a retreat in the hot season, and in which 
they often receive their lessons in natural history and the habit 
of observing and describing the objects they see — all serve as 
means andmotivesfortheenjoyment of theopenair. A very large 
riding-school serves as a place for exercise in bad weather. 
They are also as absolutely inquired to leave their rooms and occu- 
pations during the hours of relaxation as to be present during the 
hours of study. Indisposition is the only excuse admissible in 
either case. But no less care is taken on a subject too often ne- 
glected, but even perhaps more important, — I mean, in providing 
for the purity of the air in the rooms where they study and sleep, 
and in which, agreeably to the present modes of education, they 
must pass the greater part of the twenty-four hours. The dor- 
mitories, and rooms for study and for recreation, are large and 
airy to a degree which would usually be deemed luxurious. 
They are thrown open when the pupils are absent from them, 
and the most scrupulous neatness is preserved, that nothing may 
be suffered to taint the air. During winter they are warmed 
by earthen stoves, with tubes for heated air, which preserve a 
moderate but uniform and agreeable temperature, and do not 
admit that alternate and excessive heating and cooling which 
are connected with the ordinary methods of warming apart- 
ments. Above all, there is none of that wretched economy 
which sacrifices health and vigour of constitution to calculations 
of space and convenience, or to the mercenary plan of col- 
lecting the greatest possible number of pupils in a small space. 

M 2 



li 



V 



244 APPENDIX. 

LETTER VI. 

EXERCISE. DISTRIBUTION OF TIME. 

In my last I mentioned the external means employed to pro- 
mote the physical vigour of the pupils of Hofwyl. But, as in 
all other cases, the voluntary efforts of the individual in the 
exercise of his powers are the only means of securing their 
healthy and vigorous development ; and the hest climate, the 
purest air, and the most perfect diet, are insufficient to give 
health to the inactive. Every means is, therefore, employed to 
maintain habits of vigorous bodily exercise. Careful and ample 
provision is made for encouraging voluntary exercise. The requi- 
site instruments for various active games are constantly furnished 
and placed within the reach of the pupils as regularly as the 
means of intellectual improvement and amusement. 

To connect exercise as much as possible -with habits of in- 
dustry, each pupil, who is capable of such a task, is provided 
with a small portion of ground to be cultivated as a garden, 
whose fruits afford him a reward, and at the same time an en- 
couragement for foresight, labour, and perseverance. A work- 
shop, well furnished with tools and materials for cabinet work, 
under the direction of a master workman, enables those who 
are disposed to occupy themselves in this manner to acquire a 
kind of skill always useful in life, and to manufacture many 
little articles of convenience or taste. But in addition to this, 
gymnastic exercises form a part of the regular business of every 
day : they consist in leaping, climbing, pulling, hanging to a 
beam, pulling a rope, climbing a ladder, running, swimming, 
&c. : they are graduated according to the age : at first they 
are of such a nature as to develop only the activity of the limbs ; 
and subsequently, such as call forth the strength : they are 
varied in every mode adapted to develop the muscles, to habi- 
tuate them to active and rapid movements, to accustom the body 
to maintain itself in all positions, and to give strength to the 
organs of respiration : they tend thus to render the constitution 
more vigorous ; they prepare the body for those violent exer- 
tions which danger sometimes renders necessary, and for resisting 
those violent shocks which frequently occur, and which may prove 
fatal to a feeble frame ; but they are especially important in 
teaching the pupil how to estimate his own strength, to know 
how far he may safely venture, and what he cannot safely at- 
tempt. These exercises take place in the open air when the 
weather is fine ; and at other times in the spacious riding-school 



APPENDIX. 24-5 

which I have described as devoted to this object. Fencing and 
dancing are connected with them, or employed in their place, 
according to the necessities of the individual, or the wishes of 
his parents, but are all pursued under constant superintendence, 
and with frequent examination of their influence upon each 
individual. Agreeably to the laws of Switzerland, the pupils of 
the Agricultural School are taught military exercises every month ;j 
and during the summer the pupils of the Scientific School have 
weekly drills of the same kind. Bathing is also deemed of great 
importance in the physical treatment of boys. To guard against 
the enfeebling effects of streams and lakes heated by the sun, 
a large bath has been constructed, which is continually kept 
cool by a jet d'eau flowing from a neighbouring spring. In this 
the pupils usually bathe twice a day during the summer. A 
large bath of brick, lined with water cement, ten or twelve feet 
square, in one of the principal buildings, is heated for warm 
bathing during the winter, when this is deemed advisable. An 
annual pedestrian journey in the mountains of Switzerland forms 
an important supplement to these means of improving the bodily 
strength. The pupils are divided into parties, each under the 
charge of one of their teachers. The length and nature of the 
journey, the daily distance to be travelled, and other circum- 
stances, are proportioned to the age and vigour of the party. 
Each one who is able carries his own stock of clothing in a 
knapsack, and they are taught to content themselves with the 
humble lodgings, and scanty, coarse fare, which a numerous 
party must often meet with in the mountains of Switzerland. 
Some means of conveyance is generally provided for the occa- 
sional relief of those whose strength is not equal to that of their 
companions, or for the knapsacks of those who are too much 
fatigued to carry them. 

The distribution of time is also made with careful reference to 
the healthy development of the system. No lesson continues 
more than an hour, and an interval of ten minutes is allowed 
between the lessons, in which the pupils traverse the buildings, 
and find that momentary relaxation of mind and body which 
enables them to return with new vigour to their task. The 
lessons are so arranged, especially with the younger pupils, that 
the same kind of exertion shall not be continued too long. An 
hour of music, labour, or play is interposed between occupations 
of a more serious kind. Two hours of gymnastic exercises are 
also so arranged as to furnish mental relaxation as well as in- 
M 3 



246 APPENDIX. 

vigoration of body. Care is also taken to occupy the morning, 
when the mind is fresh, with those studies which require the 
greatest intellectual effort. The afternoon, when the mind and 
body are both in some degree wearied, and rendered less active 
by the effects of the principal meal, is devoted to writing, drawing, 
music, and the lighter branches of study. In this way', not only 
is the bodily health promoted, but greater success in study is 
secured. 

The hours and duration of sleep are regulated according to the 
age and necessity of the pupil, as indicated by the apparent 
demands of nature, under the direction of a medical adviser. It 
is deemed irrational to form a single positive scale, which would 
deprive some of the repose which their bodily state may demand, 
and would leave others to impair their strength by unnecessary 
indulgence. To provide against all disturbance of this kind, dif- 
ferent sleeping-rooms are assigned to the different classes of pupils, 
according to the amount of rest they need. The great demands of 
parents and of society, at this day, render it extremely difficult 
to maintain the proper proportion of bodily and mental occu- 
pations, and Fellenberg is sometimes compelled to require an 
undue amount of intellectual exertion, at the period which ought 
to be chiefly devoted to physical development, and thus, perhaps, 
hazard a life of feebleness or inactivity. Still it is his intention, 
in the application of this system, to pay constant attention to the 
^individual necessities of each pupil. For this purpose, each one, 
on his entrance, is subjected to particular examination, in regard 
I to his constitution, his habits, his physical defects and danger, 
and the peculiar necessities of his age. The general rules in 
reference to diet, exercise, sleep, and occupation, are modified 
in accordance with this ; and it is intended never to sacrifice, 
for a moment, the present health or future vigour of the pupil 
to the prospect of immediate success in his studies, or to the 
reputation which the Institution might acquire by, the brilliant 
specimens of rapid improvement thus produced.]! Where the 
control of the pupil is left, as it always should be, in the hands 
of the educator, he often permits him to devote but half his 
time to study. The very eagerness with which some apply 
themselves is often only an additional evidence of that nervous 
excitement which endangers a premature waste of their strength, 
and which can only be subdued by an unusual proportion of 
bodily exercise. And so nicely balanced are our physical and 
moral systems, that one cannot be neglected without injuring 



APPENDIX. 247 

the other. It has also been found at Hofwyl, that to indulge 
the disposition to excessive application, often produces a degree 
of excitement which gives the ascendancy to dangerous passions, ' 
and leads to habits whose tendency is fatal. 

LETTER VII. 

INFLUENCE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION ON THE MIND AND 
CHARACTER. 

There is scarcely any point in which the system of Fellenberg 
excited stronger interest in my own mind than in the connection 
of physical education with intellectual and moral improvement. 
/It is universally admitted that the mind can never be capable of // 
//exerting all its energy unless the body is in a state of health. / / 
We have no necessity to recur to those numerous distressing 
forms of disease, produced by the neglect of health, which entail 
upon their subject an imbecility or perversion of the mental 
powers. It is frequently found that a defect which appears to 
be simply intellectual or moral is connected with a morbid or 
imperfect state of the body, or a want of harmony between the 
various portions of the system, and that cheerfulness may even 
depend on a slight variation of food. In acting on this principle, 
the experience of Fellenberg has satisfied him that indolence in 
young persons is so directly opposite to their natural disposition 
to activity, that unless it is the consequence of bad education, it 
is almost invariably connected with some physical defect. He 
has often found it yield to the invigorating effects of the cold 
bath, or exercise in the open air ; or, when it is the result of a 
preponderance of the animal system, it has been relieved by in- 
terposing an unusual proportion of exercise between the hours 
of study, and thus rousing the body from that torpor which be- 
numbed the faculties of the mind. 

The habit of -wandering from one subject to another, which so 
often gives rise to useless remonstrances, and still more useless 
punishments, is frequently connected with debility or disorder 
of the nervous system, arising from natural constitution, from 
rapid growth, or from previous excessive exertion. It can only 
be remedied gradually, by careful attention to the degree and 
methods of occupation, and to the means just mentioned ; and 
I witnessed more than one instance of obvious improvement 
from the adoption of this course. 

Impatience and irritability of temper are often the result of the 
M 4 



24-8 APPENDIX. 

same causes, and require to be treated in the same manner. In- 
deed, Fellenberg has often found that medical treatment was 
necessary, and that in many cases the life, or health, or moral 
character of the pupil would he irreparably injured by attempting 
to force him by punishment, or excite him by motives addressed 
to his vanity or ambition, to exertions to which his strength is 
not equal. Who that has long attended to this subject has not 
seen more than one example in which the peace or vigour of a 
youth has been thus sacrificed to the unreasonable demands of 
parents, or to the ambition or severity of teachers ? 

The exercises connected with the physical education of Hofwyl 
\tend to form and improve the character in a variety of respects. 
i They lead the idle to habits of occupation and industry, by the 
attraction of an employment adapted to their taste. They 
cultivate the habit of perseverance in accomplishing what they 
have begun, whether it be in acquiring a particular exercise 
of body, in making an article of furniture or ornament, or 
in the cultivation of their garden plots ; obliging them to 
exercise the patience necessary to wait for the result. They 
inspire with courage and enterprise, by teaching the pupil how 
often his fears and discouragements are groundless, and how 
much may be accomplished by effort and attention ; they in- 
vigorate his resolution in subduing himself, and struggling with 
difficulties, and in producing that force of will, for the want of 
which so many men of the best principles and intentions fall a 
sacrifice to the temptations around them, and even to the per- 
suasion of others : at the same time, they furnish him with a 
lesson of caution and prudence, by the habit they produce of 
considering the object to be accomplished, of measuring his own 
strength, and of devising the best means of bringing it into action. 

The care of their little garden plots, in the autumn and spring, 
furnishes also useful lessons of foresight and calculation. It is in- 
teresting to see them in the autumn collecting and placing in a 
green-house, provided for the purpose, such plants as cannot 
sustain the cold ; putting their hot-beds, and other ornaments 
which might be injured by the weather, under shelter ; and 
heaping up the earth in such a manner that it may be pene- 
trated and mellowed by the snows of winter and the influence 
of the air. It is peculiarly interesting to see them preparing and 
arranging their gardening tools as the spring approaches ; and, 
when its first mild days begin to cheer the earth, issuing forth 
to break up the ground — to bring fresh and fertile soil and 



APPENDIX. 249 

manure to replace what they have removed — and to make 
preparation for the summer, — to see the fondness with which 
they afterwards watch over the progress of the fruits of their 
labours, and gather the little delicacies, which have a double 
relish from this cause, and devise new plans for improvement 
and ornament ; and especially to witness the eagerness with 
which each party, on their return from their annual journey, 
run to visit their little estates, and enjoy the refreshments they 
afford. Their annual journeys serve not only to inure their 
bodies to hardships, but to accustom them to self-denial : they 
give them experience of the vicissitudes of life, and present 
some of its shadows of such a depth as is suited to prove the 
courage, and call forth the energies of youth, without oppressing 
them ; they form, in short, a kind of preparation, adapted to 
their strength, for the real evils and privations of life. 

They also serve to enlarge their views of mankind, in their 
individual character and in their social relations : they are 
made familiar with the modes of life of the various classes of 
the community, and collect the materials for those comparisons 
which are so necessary to enable us to appreciate duly our own 
situation and circumstances. One object, continually kept in 
view, is to enable them to acquire the mechanical habit of all 
those exterior forms which are necessary in life : these depend 
much more on habit than on the intellectual and moral cha- 
racter, and yet are important to usefulness. On this subject, 
Fellenberg observes, " they should especially be accustomed to 
maintain the cleanliness so indispensable to health ; an unpre- 
tending decency of dress and deportment should be rendered as 
familiar to them as their breath ;" they should never be left to 
experience embarrassment of feeling for want of them, as it often 
happens to men of great merit and learning, when they are sud- 
denly called upon to comply with forms to which they were not 
early habituated. It is lamentable that many good men have 
the weakness rather to make pretensions to cynicism, as if it 
were an inseparable companion of great minds, because here 
and there an individual of this character has not given himself 
the trouble to throw off the disagreeable garb which conceals 
his merit. 



M 5 



250 APPENDIX. 

LETTER VIII. 

MORAL EDUCATION OF HOFWYL. EXTERNAL MEANS. — EXCLU- 
SION OF SOURCES OF CORRUPTION. — UNITY OF ACTION. 

My dear Friend, — The only substantial basis of moral educa- 
tion, in the view of Feilenberg, is in religion and religious influence. 
But in communicating instruction and exerting influence of this 
kind, much of our success will depend on the circumstances in 
which the pupil is placed — the round of ordinary daily events 
which form the moral atmosphere in which he breathes, and 
whose efficacy is far greater than that of the occasional lessons 
he receives, however excellent. In this view, great care is 
taken at Hofwyl to render the immediate circle of the pupil's 
observation pure ; to allow him to feel as little as possible the 
seductive influence of vice, while his own principles and feelings 
are in their nascent state, and his imagination susceptible of 
deep and lasting impressions. The retired situation of the In- 
stitution is exceedingly favourable, in excluding a multitude of 
those bad examples and excitements to evil which exert such a 
corrupting influence on the youth of cities and towns. It places 
the whole sphere of observation under the control of the edu- 
cator. The character of every individual attached to the es- 
tablishment, domestics and workmen, as well as teachers, is 
carefully ascertained, as far as possible, before they are received. 
It is constantly observed with vigilance, and every one whose 
influence is found to be unfavourable is immediately removed. 
Similar caution is used with regard to the pupils. None are 
received without testimonials of a good character ; none are 
suffered to remain, who, after trial of the usual discipline, con- 
tinue to exhibit examples of vice. The latter regulation seems, 
at first sight, scarcely consistent with the benevolence which 
should direct such an establishment. It seems unkind to exclude 
from such means of improvement the unhappy persons who are 
most in need of its privileges. But, on the other hand, it is con- 
trary to sound judgment to mingle those infected with a con- 
tagious disease with such as enjoy health. They should not, 
indeed, be neglected ; but they should be provided for, not in a 
house of education, but in a moral hospital. We have need of such 
hospitals for those corrupted with vice, as really as of lazarettos 
for those infected with disease. At the same time, Feilenberg 
does not expect to exclude entirely from the model of providen- 
tial education which he proposes for imitation, those means 



APPENDIX. 251 

which evil examples and their results afford for enabling us to 
see more fully the nature and consequences of transgression.. 
On the contrary, he finds that the view of those who bring on 
themselves the disapprobation, the dislike, or contempt of their 
companions, or the displeasure and reproof of their preceptors, 
by their faults, has often a more powerful influence on the minds 
of others than any theoretical instruction. But he finds, un- 
happily, that with every precaution which the educator can 
employ, a sufficient number of such examples will remain for 
this purpose ; nay, enough to demand all his vigilance, in order 
to prevent the ill-disposed from exerting an influence on the 
public opinion. In order to preserve the purity of the pupil's 
sphere of observation, the books which are put into his hands are 
as important as the examples which surround him. None are left 
within his reach without submitting them to the most careful 
examination, and excluding all which his age or disposition may 
render dangerous or dubious in their influence. Unless this is 
done, all other efforts may be rendered of no effect ; and the 
mind may be warped, the imagination gradually heated or cor- 
rupted, before we can perceive or remedy the evil. He believes 
also, that it is not useful to read many works beside those which 
deserve to be studied in the early period of youth, when the 
pupil is incapable of understanding fully most books which he 
reads, and easily acquires the habit of reading superficially. 
There should obviously be no less care on the part of the educators 
themselves, that their own weaknesses may not become the means of 
counteracting the effects of instruction. Where a number of 
persons are united in this task, the remark is of far greater im- 
portance. If each does not subdue, with the utmost care, his 
prevailing defects, the pupil, whose attention will be occupied 
rather by his faults than by his virtues, will be left to form for 
himself, from the defects of all, a kind of abstract conception of 
an educator, which will be rather a model of imperfections than of 
excellences. He is in danger of learning to associate each fault 
with the valuable'qualities of his preceptor, or with the reverence 
he is taught to pay him, in such a manner as not to perceive its 
intrinsic deformity. It is proper in this place also to notice the 
importance which Fellenberg attaches to unity of action and 
methods in education. He does not intend that instructors, more 
than their pupils, should slavishly imitate a single model, or 
aim at an identity which can be only personal. " On the con- 
trary, that variety in the modes of thinking and instruction 
M 6 



252 APPENDIX. 

which stimulates the mind of the pupil to examination, selection 1 , 
and originality, is one of the great advantages of puhlic institu- 
tions. The contact with a numher of instructors not only en- 
larges the circle of experience of the pupil, and firrnishes him 
more numerous points of comparison, but prevents his becoming 
the servile copy of any individual. At the same time, it is of 
the first importance that the course of moral education and dis- 
cipline should possess absolute unity, — that the pupil should al- 
ways know what he is to expect, — should be accustomed to the 
same method of treatment, — and should never be able to conceal 
his faults, or escape punishment or self-accusation, amidst a 
diversity of opinion among those who have the charge of him. 
Each individual should feel assured of being strengthened and 
assisted in his efforts by all the rest ; and the association should 
be able to reckon on the co-operation of each individual in the 
general system adopted." 

This co-operation is especially important in giving a par- 
ticular direction to an individual character, or in correcting a 
particular fault. When a pupil is reminded of a particular 
defect, or prompted to a particular duty, by several of his in- 
structors, the vanity which would lead him to doubt or resist 
is overcome ; and that conviction of the importance of the fault 
they reprove, or the course they recommend, is produced, which 
is the first step to improvement. I have been surprised to see a 
proud spirit of self-conceit reduced by such means, in a few days, 
to comparative humility, yet without a degrading sense of shame, 
and commencing an entirely new course. On the other hand, 
so long as the offender finds refuge in the approbation or indif- 
ference of one of those to whom his fault may be visible, his 
pride often sustains him, and renders him inaccessible to the 
remonstrances of all the rest. 

In reference to the immediate direction and education of the 
pupils, Fellenberg deems absolute unity so indispensable that he 
confines the task to as small a number of guardians as possible, 
consisting of his children and of pupils from the school of 
Wehrli, who have been fully imbued with his views, and whose 
fidelity and judgment have been tried. The mass of the in- 
structors, whose previous education or short residence at Hofwyl 
render it difficult for them to co-operate fully with the views of 
its founder, are lodged in a separate building, at such a distance 
from the school that there is no immediate communication with 
it : they come into the Institution, as into a family, to give 



APPENDIX. 255 

their lessons ; and have no concern -with the pi> assemblies of 
it relates to their intellectual progress and their concuiCj's that 
class. Occasional meetings of the instructors are held, with a 
view of producing as much co-operation and harmony of views 
as possible : they are not intended merely for the discussion 
of principles ; but the intellectual and moral character of each 
pupil is made the subject of particular inquiry, and each in- 
structor is called upon to give the result of his observations, and 
his opinion as to the course to be adopted. Fellenberg regards it 
as very important also, in order to preserve this unity of influence, 
that the pupils should reside uninterruptedly in the Institution until 
their education is completed. A visit to their homes, and the 
idleness and round of amusements that usually attend it, pro- 
duce effects which often entail months of painful exertion upon 
the educator and the pupil, before they are remedied. The 
simplicity, uniformity, and regularity of his school life will 
often be wearisome to him, after having been accustomed to the 
indolence, comparative luxury, and abandonment to his own 
will, in regard to the employment of his time, which he has 
enjoyed at home. Absolute submission will become difficult, 
and he will find the simple, unyielding conduct of his educators 
almost unkind, after the flattery and indulgence he has ex- 
perienced from ill-judging friends, if not from his own family. 
During such a short visit, the friends of a pupil are usually 
more anxious to give and obtain marks of affection than to 
promote his improvement ; and the attention is occupied rather 
with those more favourable changes in body and mind which 
take place at this period of youth, than with his remaining 
defects. Fellenberg therefore urges that these brief gratifica- 
tions of affection should not be purchased at a price so dear, 
and that the visits of parents and friends should not be so 
frequent as to produce a similar disadvantage. He observes, 
with justice, that no parent should confide a pupil to the care 
of an educator unless he reposes entire confidence in him, and 
is convinced of the general correctness of his views. Every 
reasonable parent must admit that in such a case, even if he 
cannot approve all the details of the treatment adopted, it is far 
better that his child should be subjected to one uniform course 
of discipline, although imperfect in some points, than to have 
his attention distracted by an alternation of different methods, 
and his confidence both in his educator and parents impaired 
by perceiving the difference of their views and treatment. 



252 APPENDIX. 

which stimulates the mind of the pupil to examination, selection 1 , 
and originality, is one of the great advantages of public institu- 
tions. The contact with a number of instructors not only en- 
larges the circle of experience of the pupil, and furnishes him 
more numerous points of comparison, but prevents his becoming 
the servile copy of any individual. At the same time, it is of 
the first importance that the course of moral education and dis- 
cipline should possess absolute unity, — that the pupil should al- 
ways know what he is to expect, — should be accustomed to the 
same method of treatment, — and should never be able to conceal 
his faults, or escape punishment or self-accusation, amidst a 
diversity of opinion among those who have the charge of him. 
Each individual should feel assured of being strengthened and 
assisted in his efforts by all the rest ; and the association should 
be able to reckon on the co-operation of each individual in the 
general system adopted." 

This co-operation is especially important in giving a par- 
ticular direction to an individual character, or in correcting a 
particular fault. "When a pupil is reminded of a particular 
defect, or prompted to a particular duty, by several of his in- 
structors, the vanity which would lead him to doubt or resist 
is overcome ; and that conviction of the importance of the fault 
they reprove, or the course they recommend, is produced, which 
is the first step to improvement. I have been surprised to see a 
proud spirit of self-conceit reduced by such means, in a few days, 
to comparative humility, yet without a degrading sense of shame, 
and commencing an entirely new course. On the other hand, 
so long as the offender finds refuge in the approbation or indif- 
ference of one of those to whom his fault may be visible, his 
pride often sustains him, and renders him inaccessible to the 
remonstrances of all the rest. 

In reference to the immediate direction and education of the 
pupils, Fellenberg deems absolute unity so indispensable that he 
confines the task to as small a number of guardians as possible* 
consisting of his children and of pupils from the school of 
Wehrli, who have been fully imbued with his views, and whose 
fidelity and judgment have been tried. The mass of the in- 
structors, whose previous education or short residence at Hofwyl 
render it difficult for them to co-operate fully with the views of 
its founder, are lodged in a separate building, at such a distance 
from the school that there is no immediate communication with 
it : they come into the Institution, as into a family, to give 



APPENDIX. 

their lessons ; and have no concern with the pu 
it relates to their intellectual progress and their concur 
class. Occasional meetings of the instructors are held, with a 
view of producing as much co-operation and harmony of views 
as possible : they are not intended merely for the discussion 
of principles ; but the intellectual and moral character of each 
pupil is made the subject of particular inquiry, and each in- 
structor is called upon to give the result of his observations, and 
his opinion as to the course to be adopted. Fellenberg regards it 
as very important also, in order to preserve this unity of influence, 
that the pupils should reside uninterruptedly in the Institution until 
their education is completed. A visit to their homes, and the 
idleness and round of amusements that usually attend it, pro- 
duce effects which often entail months of painful exertion upon 
the educator and the pupil, before they are remedied. The 
simplicity, uniformity, and regularity of his school life will 
often be wearisome to him, after having been accustomed to the 
indolence, comparative luxury, and abandonment to his own 
will, in regard to the employment of his time, which he has 
enjoyed at home. Absolute submission will become difficult, 
and he will find the simple, unyielding conduct of his educators 
almost unkind, after the flattery and indulgence he has ex- 
perienced from ill-judging friends, if not from his own family. 
During such a short visit, the friends of a pupil are usually 
more anxious to give and obtain marks of affection than to 
promote his improvement ; and the attention is occupied rather 
with those more favourable changes in body and mind which 
take place at this period of youth, than with his remaining 
defects. Fellenberg therefore urges that these brief gratifica- 
tions of affection should not be purchased at a price so dear, 
and that the visits of parents and friends should not be so 
frequent as to produce a similar disadvantage. He observes, 
with justice, that no parent should confide a pupil to the care 
of an educator unless he reposes entire confidence in him, and 
is convinced of the general correctness of his views. Every 
reasonable parent must admit that in such a case, even if he 
cannot approve all the details of the treatment adopted, it is far 
better that his child should be subjected to one uniform course 
of discipline, although imperfect in some points, than to have 
his attention distracted by an alternation of different methods, 
and his confidence both in his educator and parents impaired 
by perceiving the difference of their views and treatment. 



APPENDIX. 



LETTER IX. 

GOOD EXAMPLES. INFLUENCE OF PUPILS ON EACH OTHER. — 

PUBLIC OPINION. — GOVERNMENT BY PUPILS. 

My deai' Friend, — In my last I described the views of Fellen- 
berg in reference to the importance of preserving the pupil's 
immediate sphere of observation, as much as possible, from 
sources of corruption ; but it is not sufficient to exclude evil 
examples and influences ; he should be surrounded with such as 
will continually allure and stimulate him to good. 

In constituting families, the institutions established by Pro- 
vidence for the education of our race, Divine wisdom has 
ordered that the little pupils should arrive singly, in a state of 
great susceptibility, and at such intervals that ample time is left 
to those who are thus constituted their educators to gain the 
experience and to acquire the habits necessary for this im- 
portant task. In this, as well as in other points, we should 
follow the steps of the Divine Educator. The most effectual 
mode of securing the predominance of good examples in a new 
institution, is to commence with so small a number that their com- 
bined power and skill cannot escape the vigilance of the educator, 
or resist his moral influence. 

The institution at Hofwyl was originally formed of a small 
number, who were trained to certain regular habits and duties. 
These gradually came to be regarded as much a part of the 
daily routine of events as the hours of eating and sleeping ; and 
excited almost as little the idea of resistance or change. Only 
one or two new pupils are, even now, admitted at a time. They 
find themselves in a current which they cannot arrest, and 
which it is difficult to resist. In attempting to escape it, they 
become insulated in the midst of a busy little world. They 
perceive a constant course of occupation, accompanied with 
every mark of enjoyment, and begin to believe that they may 
be united. Their own love of activity is aided by the spirit of 
imitation and the social disposition which eminently charac- 
terises the young ; and they insensibly fall into the stream, and 
co-operate with the mass in exerting a similar influence on 
others. The public opinion of the pupils is also employed as an 
instrument of restraint and government. It is established in 
the same gradual manner as the habits of the school ; it is 
developed and strengthened by various branches of study, and 



APPENDIX, 255 

especially by that of history, and by the public assemblies of 
the pupils. The effort is made to excite in the pupils that 
public spirit which seeks to exclude every thing improper from 
its sphere of influence, in order to preserve the order and 
tranquillity which are necessary to the improvement of all. In 
the same manner, the attempt is made to inspire a class with a 
desire to attain the object proposed in their lessons, and a spirit 
of opposition to all that disorder and idleness which may inter- 
rupt or embarrass the course of instruction, or retard their pro- 
gress : they are led to unite in assisting the feeble, stimulating 
the idle, and discountenancing the disorderly. An influence of 
this kind, once established, with due regulation and oversight, 
will often accomplish more than all the remonstrances and dis- 
cipline of the teacher. The pupil can seldom resist the force 
of truth, when he finds himself condemned by the common voice 
of his companions, and is often more humbled by this censure 
from his equals than by any of the admonitions of his su- 
periors. 

At one time the attempt was made to give permanency and 
force to the influence of public opinion, by embodying it in 
a system of regulations formed or consented to by the pupils 
themselves, and executed by their own tribunals : but it was 
found that much time was unnecessarily consumed; that the 
attention of the pupils was too much drawn off from their 
studies and themselves ; that the correction of faults was often 
late, and that private friendly admonition was often excluded 
where it was most necessary. Besides these difficulties, the 
application of a single law (which must necessarily be unyield- 
ing) to every disposition did not always produce the best effect. 
Many cases also occurred where none but a mature judgment 
could distinguish with correctness the circumstances of the 
case, and the proper mode of managing the individual, and 
where every hope of his reformation seemed to depend on the 
delicate touches of an experienced hand, and would be abso- 
lutely hazarded by the publicity necessary in other cases. For 
these and other reasons, the plan has been laid aside for several 
years. 

LETTER X. 

VIGILANCE EMPLOYED. 

My dear Friend, — In former letters I have mentioned the 
general means employed for the physical and moral welfax"e of the 



258 APPENDIX. 

pride or disappointed appetite exciting only anger at the 
executioner, instead of penitence for the fault." In short, the 
educator should always possess and cherish the genuine parental 
spirit towards his pupil : it should be interwoven with all his 
instructions, with all his requisitions, with all his treatment. 
This spirit the pupils will not fail to discover, and it will almost 
invariably awaken a corresponding filial regard on their part. 
He should exhibit this spirit by seizing every opportunity, and 
employing every means in his power, not only to render his 
pupils wiser and better, and thus happier, but also to promote 
their innocent enjoyment. Such exhibitions of it are given at 
Hofwyl in the attention paid to provide for their amusement, in 
their gardens, workshops, and play-ground, in the concerts and 
occasional festivals, and in their annual journeys. The educator 
is always the spectator, and often the sharer of the sports of the 
pupils : he endeavours to avoid that austerity which keeps 
them at a distance and renders confidence impossible, without 
descending to that familiarity which might impair the respect 
which is his due. It is, indeed, difficult to maintain this proper 
medium ; but its importance is too generally acknowledged to 
require any illustration. But care must be taken never to treat 
the child as a plaything, by that fondling which is too often 
considered the evidence of affection, and thus reduce him to the 
level of a favourite animal. The parent or guardian must assume 
the infantile character, and be the companion of the sports of his 
children. If he finds himself incapable, like Henry of France, 
of becoming the horse of his child, if occasion requires, he will 
fulfil his task but imperfectly. The educators of Hofwyl deem 
it of no small importance, not only to avoid all appearance of 
irritation and impatience, but to maintain a uniform cheerfulness 
of demeanour with their pupils in governing as well as in 
instructing. Commands given with cheerfulness are usually 
obeyed with alacrity ; when, perhaps, the same directions, an- 
nounced with a gloomy and severe manner, would excite dis- 
content and rouse the disposition to resistance. They endeavour 
by this and other means to maintain a spirit of hope and cheer- 
fulness in the pupils themselves : it renders labour more easy 
and more successful, and privations and inconveniences more 
tolerable. They also endeavour to gain their confidence by listen- 
ing to their requests and their complaints with patience, in the full 
conviction that the views of a child must, of course, be often im- 
perfect and unreasonable. They have then the opportunity of 



APPENDIX. 259 

correcting them, and of aiding them to judge more rationally 
on another occasion. At the same time, they learn the means 
of access to their hearts, and may hope to be informed -without 
reserve of the progress and state of their feelings at all times ; 
advantages which -would be entirely lost, if they attempted to 
suppress authoritatively and abruptly these exhibitions of their 
feelings, on account of the little marks of petulance or im- 
patience -which may attend them. At the same time, there are 
many occasions when the iiature of the subject is such that ex- 
planations -would only perplex the pupil ; -when it is impracti- 
cable or unsuitable to give him the reasons for their directions, 
-when it is necessary to require and enforce immediate obedience. 
Here they must imitate the occasional course of Divine Pro- 
vidence, in peremptory orders, grounded on their superior knowledge, 
and enforced by their authority and superior power; and thus 
teach the pupil the duty, and form the habit of exercising 
implicit confidence in those under whose care he is placed, and 
unconditional obedience to their commands, -when they are abso- 
lute, even when he cannot see the reason. There are moments 
in the course of education, and even of life, when the delay 
which reasoning demands would expose us to the danger which 
it is intended to avert, and where we must leam to yield to 
authority without a question. It is not to be doubted, as a single 
example, that the difficulty of submitting in this manner impli- 
citly to the direction of a skilful person, in disease or in a moment 
of danger, has caused the loss of many a life and limb, and that 
this has often arisen from the defects of early education. It is 
not less important, in modifying the character, to engage the 
pupil himself in the task. Force, compulsion, reach only the 
exterior ; the heart, the character, remains unchanged. The 
disposition suppressed by such means only waits a favourable 
opportunity to develop itself anew. Coercion can with pro- 
priety only be employed to restrain open violence or obstinate 
resistance to public order ; or in cases where the resolution of 
the pupil is so enfeebled by habit or the strength of a propen- 
sity, that he requires exterior aid. Even in the worst cases he 
should, if possible, be made to feel the want of it, and accept it 
as a kindness, instead of revolting against it as an act of 
authority. It has more than once occurred at Hofwyl, that 
pupils in these circumstances, from the habit of being treated icith 
mildness, and from feeling confidence instead of fear of their 
educators, have been led to solicit the aid or discipline of which 



260 APPENDIX. 

they felt the need, or whose good effects they had seen in the 
case of others. 

But in general, the pupil is taught and required to govern him- 
self, to exercise one sentiment in correcting another : he is 
made to feel a responsibility for himself, and to regard his edu- 
cator only as a mentor, whose duty it is to warn him of his 
faults and his dangers, but who imposes no arbitrary restraints 
and exerts no despotic power which can interfere with his 
rational liberty. 

LETTER XL 

LIBERTY OF THE PUPILS TRIALS. FESTIVALS OF HOFWYL. 

My dear Friend, — In former letters I have described to you 
the precautions and the vigilance employed in preventing and 
excluding evil, as a pre-requisite to a proper course of moral 
education, and the general method of conducting it. In this, 
as in other parts of his task, the object of the educator must be, 
to ascertain the dispositions and propensities of his pupils, — to \ 
soften and correct those which are in excess, — to draw forth 
and strengthen those which are deficient in force, — to modify 
one by means of another, — to subject all to the influence of the 
intellectual faculties, — and thus to produce, as far as possible, 
that harmony which should be the basis and the ornament of 
the moral and religious character. If the future destination of 
his pupil is still undecided, he should endeavour to ascertain in 
what occupation he may be rendered most happy and useful; or 
if it is fixed beyond recall, to watch especially over those points 
of his character, which are important in reference to it. These 
objects cannot be effected by a system of rigid restraint and ar- 
bitrary punishment. Such a course may, indeed, restrain or sup- 
press certain faults, so that they shall not break forth in the 
course of education, and thus promote the ease and tranquility 
of the educator, and his reputation for the moment : but it will 
defeat the great end in view, and leave him in ignorance of 
the materials on which he is to act, by inducing the pupil to 
conceal his propensities and passions. They will too often ex- 
hibit themselves like a suppressed volcano in the sudden deso- 
lations of an earthquake ; or burst forth like the wasting torrent 
of lava when the pressure is removed. It is on this principle 
that we can easily account for the utter failure of many excel- 
lent parents in the education of their children, and the lawless, 



APPENDIX. 261 

reckless indulgence of every propensity to ■which they too often 
resign themselves, as soon as they escape from the authority 
which has restrained them. On the contrary, after establishing [ 
the system of precaution and vigilance we have described, Fel- 
lenberg considers it as indispensably necessary to respect the 
liberty of the pupil, and to permit him to act freely, if we wish to 
discover how he is disposed to act, or to aid him in correcting 
himself. Nay more, after surrounding him with the circum- 
stances described, which shut out, as much as possible, direct 
seduction and positive examples of evil, we must leave him to the 
influence of such objects and causes, fitted to excite his propen- 
sities, as he will ordinarily encounter in the world, and allow 
him to exhibit his character, so far as his own immediate safety, 
or that of those around him, is not endangered. Our dispo- 
sitions and passions must remain unknown to ourselves and 
others, if the objects which excite them are entirely kept out of 
view -. the nobler or more feeble propensities cannot be culti- 
vated ; the inferior or stronger cannot be pointed out or sup- 
pressed. Without some previous trial and examination of this 
kind, the pupil is sent forth into the world to learn amidst its 
difficulties of what he is capable, and discovers for the first time 
the nature and strength of his propensities, from the influence 
of temptations which too often prove fatal to his character and 
prospects. Is it not cruelty thus to launch an untried bark 
upon a pathless ocean, and to hide from ourselves the defects 
which endanger its safety, lest the task of applying a remedy 
should weary our patience by its difficulty, or impair our repu- 
tation by its ill success ? In addition to this, the moral qualities 
are often among the most important indications of the sphere of 
action to which Providence has destined the individual. If you 
compel the timid spirit to embark on the ocean of public life, 
you prepare a victim, or a dupe, for the more powerful. If you 
condemn a mind spurred on by the love of action, to a sphere 
where his powers find no legitimate means of development, he 
will gratify them in forbidden ways, or sink into indolence and 
apathy, for want of a stimulus to action. 

Fellenberg also believes, that none of our fundamental and g 
essential dispositions and propensities would have been im-, 
planted, without some valuable end. Indeed, the more narrowly 
he examines the subject, the more will the educator be led to 
believe that there is no one of these original principles in the 
human mind, as it issued from the hands of its Creator, which 



262 APPENDIX. 

in its just measure and proportion, and duly modified by others of 
a higher nature, -will not contribute to the great ends of our 
being. The same desire of property -which in its excess ^becomes 
avarice, or produces fraud and theft, when duly restrained 
becomes frugality, and contributes no less to the welfare of 
society than to that of the individual. The wisdom of the 
serpent, properly employed for worthy objects, is as noble as 
its kindred vice of cunning is base, and not less necessary than 
the harmlessness of the dove. The same zeal and energy of 
character which stimulated Saul of Tarsus to drag the followers 
of Christ to prison and to death, when duly directed, led Paul 
to sacrifice his life in the cause of religion and humanity. 

It is on these principles that the usual regular and frugal 
\ diet of HofwylJ is, on rare occasions, exchanged for the luxuries 
' and wines of a feast, and the pupil is left without the least re- 
straint to indulge his propensities. This is done even in the 
Agricultural School ; wine is given them ad libitum, and the 
hour of retiring is left to their own choice, with the under- 
standing that the labours of the succeeding day must be resumed 
at the "usual hour. When I first learned this practice, I was 
somewhat surprised with what seemed a dangerous departure 
from the usual salutary system of seclusion from the induce- 
ments to evil. On expressing my apprehensions to Wehrli, he 
observed, that such variations from regular habits must be only 
as rare exceptions to a general rule ; but that they had been of 
essential service to him, in enabling him to detect dispositions 
and propensities which he did not suspect. He deemed them 
necessary, still farther, as a prepartion for encountering similar 
evils in the world. " If," said he, " a pupil is not capable of 
resisting for a few* hours, under the eye of his instructors, 
temptations which will meet him at every step in life, it is of 
the highest impoi'tance to discover it, while yet we have the op- 
portunity of preparing him to overcome them." \J He assured me, 
that in one instance in particular he had discovered a propensity 
to intemperate drinking, which he had never before known, and 
which he had little doubt would have resulted in a confirmed 
habit, but for the counsel and discipline to which this discovery 
during the period of education gave rise. " Is it not unrea- 
sonable," he asks, " to expect that a child will walk safely on 
the edge of a precipice, if we never suffer him to see it, and 
never allow him to direct his own steps, till the moment of trial 
comes, and then leave him to go through it unassisted ? " Per- 



APPENDIX. 263 

sonal observation of these festivals entirely dissipated my ap- 
prehensions concerning their influence, as they are conducted 
here, which these remarks had greatly diminished. I have 
watched with surprise one of the feasts of these peasant boys, 
when the table was loaded with luxuries adapted to their tastes, 
and furnished with wine, extending itself late into the night, 
and still exhibiting order, mingled with gaiety, which would 
put to shame our fashionable feasts. Their instructors were 
indeed present, but as companions, not as masters ; as aids to give 
a direction to their amusements, but not to interrupt or restrain 
any indulgence they might choose. They were left to their 
own conscience and reason to discover their duty, and to calcu- 
late the consequences of irregularity. One course of dishes 
succeeded to another, and the bottles of wine were filled as soon 
as they were empty. Sometimes a burst of gaiety would seem 
to threaten the destruction of order ; but in a short time, every- 
thing would gradually subside to the usual level of cheerful 
regularity. Their repast was sometimes cheered by the per- 
formances of the band, and sometimes varied by one of the 
popular hymns or patriotic songs which they are taught. Oc- 
casionally their activity would develop itself in childish gambols, 
or in a simple dance ; and more than once they passed without 
any apparent violence into a hymn of a serious and even of a 
religious character. Although they never have wine except on 
such occasions, I saw but two or three who exhibited the least 
evidence of its influence upon them, and this in a slight degree 
only. Such was the conduct of peasant boys from ten to twenty 
years of age ! You will need no other evidence of the excel- 
lence of the modes of education which had been adopted with 
them. You will perhaps question, and it may be with reason, 
whether this plan is applicable to our own youth. I present it 
as an interesting fact in the history of Hofwyl, — as an evidence / 
of the extent to which liberty may be granted in connection / 
with a proper system of education, and an illustration of the 
manner in which the pupils are prepared to use that unre- 
strained liberty which they enjoy in life. 

On the same principle, the pocket-money of the pupil is 
left entirely to his own disposal, with the condition that he 
must afterwards give account of the manner in which he has 
spent it. It is in watching over the pupil in the circumstances 
calculated to develop his character, that the most important 
part of the task of education consists ; a task which certainly 



264 APPENDIX. 

requires the highest degree of wisdom, and which it would 
seem almost presumptuous in man to undertake, if Divine Pro- 
vidence had not imposed the task upon us. Let it not be forgotten, 
j that in proposing this course, Fellenherg exerts and demands a 
vigilance that never sleeps — a perseverance that never tires ; and 
insists that none should assume the important duties of an edu- 
cator who is not resolved to devote all his powers to their 
performance. He calls upon them to rememher that declaration 
of Him who manifested a peculiar regard for children : " Who 
so shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it 
were better for him that a mill- stone were hanged about his 
neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea." Let 
it be remembered, too, that the results of this system, however 
hazardous it may seem to some, are incomparably happier than 
those of the opposite extreme of slavish and violent restraint, 
which is too generally adopted. 

LETTER XII. 

PUNISHMENTS. 

My dear Friend, — ; In former letters, I have described to you 
the manner in whicbjJFellenberg endeavours to imitate the ex- 
ample of Providenceun the general moral training of his pupils. 
In reference to punishments, the same course is attempted. We 
seldom see the Divine hand visibly stretched out to punish the 
offender : the Creator has appointed an order of nature by 
which the improper indulgence of our appetites and passions, 
or the abuse of our faculties, is followed by suffering. In im- 
planting propensities in man, He has provided that an injury to 
others usually brings evil consequences upon ourselves, from 
the reaction of their wounded feelings or excited passions. We 
are thus left to choose between good and evil, and are made to 
feel that we are our own executioners, in most cases of suffering 
for negligence or sin. In the same manner, the pupil of Hofwyl 
is led as much as possible to correct himself, by letting him feel [j 
the natural consequences of his fault, when they are not dan- 
gerous, and when previous warning has not been sufficient to 
restrain him. The pain or indisposition which results from 
little follies, and excesses, and imprudences, is the best, and 
often the only means of leading him to correct himself. The 
bad opinion or dislike of his comrades is the natural result of pride, 
vanity, unkindness, or any of the faults which he may commit 



APPENDIX. 265 

against them, and a powerful means of correcting them. The •» 
neglect and disapprobation of his preceptor, and the expression of / 
his dissatisfaction in admonitions and reproofs, are not less the 
natural consequences of idleness or bad conduct. The publicjl 
notice of a fault often repeated, is obviously necessary, as a means|; 
of warning others against it, and preventing the evil influence o| 
the example at the same time. In the same' manner, neglect 
of studies, or conduct which delays or interrupts the progress J 
of others, necessarily demands, on their account, the exclusion of I 
the pupil from his class, and inflicts a penalty whose equity he 
cannot contest, and which he usually feels very deeply. When 
the habit or fault is such as to be dangerous to others in its effects 
or as an example, it becomes equally necessary to exclude the 
pupil from the amusements of his companions ; or, in cases still 
more serious, to place him in a separate building, under the 
constant observation of some one to whose charge he is com- 
mitted. This is usually the highest degree of punishment 
which is requisite. If this fails, and if the fault has assumed 
the form of a confirmed habit, it is usually deemed necessary to 
remove the pupil entirely from the Institution. 

It will be said, perhaps, that a system so mild will be utterly 
inefficacious, and perhaps it will be found so, upon trial, in 
some establishments. It will unquestionably be so, when the same 
care is not taken as at Hofwyl to cherish delicacy of feeling, 
and to avoid every thing which may render the pupil insensible 
to moral influence, and impair the power of conscience. The 
person who has been accustomed to act only from the fear of 
blows, cannot be made susceptible of the force of parental ad- 
monition without much previous preparation. But this does 
not prove the necessity of a system which thus represses his 
better feelings. The arbitrary and violent punishments which 
appear to have no other source than the will of the master, and 
too often will seem to be dictated by his passions, are, in the 
view of Fellenberg, the cause of serious injury to the character, 
although they may be effectual in repressing the exterior defects 
of the pupil : they often afford him a species of consolation, 
in the idea that his sufferings are excessive, or at least, that 
they are the result of passions like his own : they thus rouse 5 
his courage and sense of justice, in opposition to his educators; 
they bring his better principles into conflict with an authority 
which he is bound to respect, and thus utterly derange his 
views and feelings as to right and wrong : they often excite 

N 



266 APPENDIX. 

passions incomparably worse than the fault they are designed to 
correct, and strengthen them, by calling them frequently into ex- 
ercise : when they exert an influence, they only accustom the 
pupil to act from the lowest motives, the fear of his fellow-men 
and of physical pain, and thus debase instead of elevating his 
character. 
\\ Still Fellenberg concedes, in theory and in practice, that cor- 
I fporal punishment is occasionally, though rarely, necessary. Those 
who have been long accustomed to this method of discipline, 
often prove intractable without its use, until they have begun 
to imbibe the spirit which reigns in the Institution. Serious 
faults also, which result from violent passions, should be repelled 
with the corresponding force at the moment, in order that a 
deep impression of physical pain may be associated with them, 
and serve as a check when excitement of this kind begins anew. 
It is also sometimes necessary to give a physical shock of this kind 
as a counterpoise to strong propensities or long established habits — 
as a means of arousing the pupil from that drowsy irresolution 
which is frequently the greatest obstacle to reformation. Should 
a course of such treatment be necessary at Hofwyl, it is accom- 

I , panied by exclusion from the Institution in a separate building. 

' ' The pupil is considered as withdrawn from the society of his 
fellows, and from the ordinary means of education — as being 
unfit to be treated as a rational being, and unworthy (for the 
time) of living among them. Great care must, however, be taken 
to continue this only so long as other means are without influence ; 
to seek by every possible means to awaken a better spirit, and to 
seize the first indications of susceptibility as the signal for offering 
a friendly hand to encourage and assist the pupil in his conquest 
of himself. The educator should especially avoid the use of all 
such violent means where debility of body, or an unsound state 
of health, gives rise to faults or habits ; and above all, where the 

! I pupil himself is sensible of his error, and struggles against it. 
In such cases he should, on the contrary, take the place of a friend, 
and proffer his aid as to one in need of assistance, instead of as- 
■ suming the attitude of a severe judge. Some remarks have already 
been made on the importance of applying physical means in 
many cases of this kind, under the head of Physical Education. 
In those cases where a fault has assumed the form of a con- 
firmed habit, which the pupil is no longer capable of resisting, it is 
of the first importance, and often a sufficient remedy, to place 
u him in circumstances where the commission of it is difficult or 



APPENDIX. 



267 



impossible, or -where he must of necessity form a habit of the 
contrary kind, until the force of the former habit is destroyed. 
It is on this principle that habits of indolence are destroyed, by 
giving the pupil an occupation -which excites his interest until 
he is accustomed to be busy. As an example of this species of 
discipline, Fellenberg sometimes places such of his workmen as 
are disposed to neglect their -work for idle conversation imme- 
diately under a threshing floor, where their voices are drowned 
by the din above them, and they can have no resource but in 
silent industry. In such a case the individual does not feel the 
immediate action of man upon him. He yields to circumstances 
and not to authority, and yields with less reluctance. 

Such are the mild, and simple, and natural methods by which 
a degree of order and industry are maintained in Hofwyl which 
I have rarely seen in a public institution, and which I have 
neve?- witnessed where force and violence were the instruments 
of government. 

LETTER XIII. 

REWARDS. EMULATION. MOTIVES PRESENTED. 

My dear Friend, — You will naturally inquire what rewards 
are given at Hofwyl ? They are in the same general spirit as 
the punishments. Positive rewards are excluded no less than 
positive punishments. Fellenberg is of opinion that they are 
calculated rather to injure than improve the pupil's character, 
and therefore to impede rather than promote the great process 
of education. That they may excite to greater exertions is 
beyond all debate : but it is by appealing to appetite, or avarice, 
or selfishness, or vanity ; and thus impairing the habits of self- 
government, of benevolence, and of humanity, which it is our great 
business to strengthen. For similar reasons he considers it im- 
proper to employ these or any other means in order to excite 
emulation. He believes that none of its good effects can atone 
for the envy and jealousy it so generally produces — the spirit of 
selfishness and pride which it necessarily nourishes. There is 
neither first nor last at Hofwyl, neither rewards, nor medals, nor 
prizes, nor punishments which have humiliation for their object. 
In short, all that train of measures, all that apparatus designed 
to address the love of glory, are entirely out of the question. 
Even praise should be bestowed, in the opinion of Fellenberg, 
very cautiously. The approbation, the friendship of his teacher 
N 2 



268 APPENDIX. 

and his most estimable companions, will be enough for a pupil 
of a generous mind. In a mind not capable of being excited by 
these testimonials of success, more distinct expressions would 
often rouse unworthy feelings, and encourage a vanity which 
would be more destructive than the indolence it is designed to 
remedy.? Fellenberg observes to his visitors, " the existing 
good in^our institution will only be destroyed if you allow 
yourself to express the feelings which may sometimes be in- 
spired, in unreflecting praise, and in attempts to reward it. 
' That is right,' is the only expression of approbation which the 
simple, upright efforts of our pupils admit. More than this, 
would only serve to tempt them, and mislead us." You will ask 1 
what motives can be found as substitutes for the powerful 
stimulus of rewards and distinctions ? Fellenberg replies, that 
" much better means are presented in the healthy eager taste for 
knowledge which we should develop in our pupils, and which is 
the almost invariable result of a loell-combined system of education ; 
in the respect and attachment which should be produced towards 
his educators, and the confidence he should feel in their desire 
to promote his welfare ; in their superior wisdom ; in that filial 
affection which seeks to gratify the anxious wishes of parents ; 
in the love of truth ; in the sense of duty ; it is only from these 
sources, which the moral and intellectual superiority of the 
educator place at his command, that he should derive his in- 
fluence over the uneducated ; and he should by no means rely 
on appeals to fear, or hope, or any other motives of a merely 
prudential kind, which are only fitted to develop a slavish 
spirit, and a disposition to concealment or deception. '\\ As a 
proof that the mild system of government, and the simple but 
powerful motives to action I have described, are fully adequate 
to secure the success and usefulness of an institution, we may 
appeal to the residts of the plan at Hofwyl itself. To say that 
uninterrupted order and good conduct prevail in an institution of 
one hundred boys, of all ages and countries, and often previously 
injured by false methods of education, would destroy all con- 
fidence in my remarks ; but after months of residence there, I 
heard of no flagrant disorder. I witnessed fewer of the occasional 
sallies of ijouihful passion than in any institution of the kind which 
I have known. I have seen incomparably more of the spirit 
and love of order, which is the best security for the conduct of 
pupils, than in schools where the rule of action was a despotic 
command, and the rod the great motive to obedience. Not less 



APPENDIX. 269 

evident is it from the experience of Hofwyl, that premiums and 
distinctions, and other means employed to excite the principle 
of emulation, are equally unnecessary to secure industry and the 
love of study. All these motives are banished from Hofwyl, 
and yet my own experience and observations, and the remarks 
of others who have long known the Institution, satisfy me that 
in few institutions is there so much disposition to application, or 
so much faithfulness in the pupils in employing all their powers 
in the fulfilment of the task assigned them. A former professor 
observed to me, that he had taught in many schools, both public 
and private, but that he had never found in any other that at- 
tention, that love of study, that attachment to the instructor, which 
he had discovered at Hofwyl ; and that he would cheerfully 
relinquish the post he then held, though more advantageous in 
other respects, for the sake of enjoying this best reward of the 
faithful teacher. In fact, these means have been uniformly 
effectual, except in a few cases, where the ruin of the pupil was 
completed before his arrival ; and if they fail in other places, it 
must produce serious doubts whether a well-combined system 
is adopted. The following examples will illustrate these re- 
marks. I was intimately acquainted with a pupil whose natural 
disposition, either ill restrained or badly developed by his pre- 
vious education, rendered him absolutely indifferent to study, 
morose and intractable under every restraint, and inaccessible 
to arguments or persuasions on this subject. At a second visit, 
at the end of eighteen months, his exterior was greatly changed. 
I inquired whether he intended to leave. " I hope not," was 
his reply. " Do you find yourself improving here ? " " I do 
not gain much here," said he ; " but I am sure it is the only 
place where I should gain any thing." At a subsequent visit I 
found him docile, good humoured, disposed to apply himself to 
his studies, and taking pleasure in his occupations and his 
teachers. Another of similar character, who had been dis- 
tinguished by self-insufficiency and positive malice, exhibited a 
deep sense of his own ignorance, an anxiety to improve himself, 
and no small degree of benevolence towards his teacher and 
companions. A boy of fourteen one day observed another 
passing, who was left, on account of weakness of eyes and dis- 
ease, to pass most of his time in rest or in play ; " Poor boy ! " 
said he. I inquired why ? " He has nothing to do ! " " But is 
it not pleasant to play, and have nothing to do ? " " No, it is 
very disagreeable ; I am only happy when I have something to 
n 3 



270 APPENDIX. 

do." " Did you always think so ? " " No, I loved to be idle before 
I came to Hofwyl." A fourth, who had passed the early 
periods of his education in several of the great towns, and 
acquired the taste and the habit of frequenting inns, coffee- 
houses, and billiard rooms, came hither with this taste so firmly 
fixed as to render it doubtful whether he could be retained in 
the Institution. Repeated offences were followed with no other 
punishment tban temporary seclusion from the Institution, under 
the guardianship of a person appointed for that purpose. A 
great change was soon visible. He began to pursue his studies 
with assiduity, and to submit implicitly to the regulations im- 
posed. He himself told me with great frankness, that before 
his arrival here, he was accustomed to regard the amusements 
above described as the only real enjoyment ; that he felt lost 
when deprived of them ; that his residence at Hofwyl was at 
first scarcely tolerable for want of them. " But, " said he, " I 
am astonished to find the alteration in my feelings. I do not 
feel now the want of these diversions. My exercise and studies 
satisfy me, and give me a happiness which I never felt before ; 
and I have no desire to go out of the limits of Hofwyl, or to have 
other means of amusement. It was a happy thing for me that 
I came here." These examples will serve better than many 
formal statements as an illustration of the system pursued at 
Hofwyl, and as evidence of its vast superiority over those esta- 
blishments in which, under pretence of libei'ty, the pupils are left 
chiefly to their own direction during the hours of amusement ; 
as well as to those places of confinement in which innocent in- 
dulgences are abridged, and violent means employed to break 
down the character which milder measures would bend into 
almost any form that could be desired : they serve to show 
that the artificial excitements commonly employed in all are as 
unnecessary as the hot-bed to the productions of the soil ; and 
they are usually not less injurious' to their ultimate health and 
vigour, even when they force them to a premature growth. 

LETTER XIV. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. TIRST STEPS OF MORAL INSTRUCTION. 

USE OF THE BIBLE. 

My dear Friend, — Moral education, in its broadest sense, is 
spoken of, in contradistinction to physical and intellectual, as 
comprising the development and cultivation of our moral 



APPENDIX. 271 

faculties in reference to our relations both to man and to God — 
to the truths and duties of religion as well as morality. I have 
already described to you that part of moral education which may 
be termed moral discipline ; and have now to give some account 
of what is more appropriately religious education./ Fellenberg ik / $ * 
regards this as the principal, the most essential part of education, j 
to which all the rest are intended only as auxiliaries. The 
utmost care should therefore be taken to conduct every part of \ 
physical and intellectual education, every branch of study, every 
exercise, and every amusement, so as to contribute directly or 
indirectly to this great end. But he maintains that it must also 
be the object of special and constant attention ; and it is amazing 
that in Christian countries so many establishments should exist ; 
where it is treated as a subject of secondary importance, and 
rather exposed to the contempt of the pupils by the superior 
regard paid to every other subject, and the negligence and 
indifference with which its forms are observed. In the view of I 
Fellenberg, religion and morality are too intimately connected J 
to be the subjects of distinct courses of instruction; and it would ! 
be no less unreasonable than hazardous to present faith without i 
the duties which it involves, or morality without its highest sane- i 
Hon. Parental care and kindness are considered as giving us | 
the conceptions which form the basis of our ideas of the cha- \ 
racter of God. On this subject, Fellenberg observes, in his 
address to his fellow-labourers : " The necessity of nature by 
which the impressions upon the senses produce images in the 
mind, also has its influence on our religious formation. The 
first conceptions, the first instructions of the infant, are derived 
from the countenances and actions of those around him. The! 
look of maternal love, the tenderness of maternal affection, opens 
heaven to the child, through the medium of this reflection of its \ 
benevolence from the heart of the mother. That parental care j 
whieh watches and labours for the good of the child with the I 
warmest affection, the most anxious foresight, the most unwearied j 
efforts, without expecting any other reward than the delight of \ 
contributing to his welfare, and which sees, and provides for, and I 
directs all that his mind can grasp, should give the child his I 
first conceptions of the All-wise, All-good, and All-powerful." " In 
our situation as educators and teachers, the most sacred duties 
of parents devolve upon us : we should therefore seek to 
present our pupils, in our efforts for their happiness, the same 
image of the disinterested, benevolent, and unvarying parental 
N 4 



272 APPENDIX. 

care of Divine Providence." As the mind becomes developed, 
and open to intercourse with the parent, the feelings thus 
awakened must be elevated to the Great Parent of all, by the 
observation of his works. The child can early be taught to 
perceive the traces of an agency beyond the control of his 
parents, which contributes no less than their care to his support 
and pleasure, and may often be led by his own reflections to 
ask who causes the sun to give its light, and the flowers to 
spring from the ground ? On this subject Fellenberg observes : 
" Without attempting to enfeeble with words what cannot be 
fully expressed, I will only say that every appearance of nature 
which exhibits the wisdom, goodness, and power of the Creator, 
with the aid of a faithful conducting hand, will bring the child 
continually nearer to the invisible Creator, Preserver, and 
Benefactor, and lead him gradually to the most delightful 
relations to the Most High — ' to look through nature, up to 
nature's God.' " " Favourable moments should be seized, without 
forcing his attention from the subject before him, to lead him to 
observe and reflect on the superiority of these over all the works 
of man, in their beauty and perfection, and in the display of 
skill and wisdom. When the mind is once filled with this idea, 
the transition is natural and easy from the human manufacturer 
to the Divine Creator ; from the imperfection which marks all 
the productions of the one, to whom all the materials are fur- 
nished, in comparison with the inimitable perfection which 
shines in all the works of Him who maketh all things out of 
nothing." " In proportion," continues Fellenberg, " as the con- 
science becomes awakened and attentive, we must lead the 
pupil, by means of its voice, to the Supreme Judge, and to an 
intimate consciousness of the existence of the Deity. As he 
proceeds, we must direct his attention to that which passes 
within himself; and lead him to observe with wonder and 
adoration the infinitely kind and wise Hand whose operation he 
cannot but perceive in many events of his life, but which still 
leaves his freedom of action untouched and unrestrained." 
But right and wrong, the beauty of the one, and the hateful- 
ness of the other, can never be learned by a child as abstract 
truths. " Without the relation of man with man," says Fellen- 
berg, " the moral law not only has no application, but is not 
even fully comprehended. We become accessible to the voice 
of the law which regulates our intercourse with our fellow-men 
only so far as they appear before us : they may be presented 



APPENDIX. 273 

to us either in the commerce of life, or by means of historical 
and biographical descriptions : without such points of com- 
parison, we have no means of forming a just estimate of a par- 
ticular character ; and it is not until we have examined numbers 
of the most noble and excellent beings of earth, that we are 
capable of forming anything like a just estimate of the resplen- 
dent moral glory of the Saviour. 

" The little world of children in which the pupil lives and 
acts, is the first, the most natural field for his observation. 
Intercourse with those of his own age is more serviceable for 
the excitement and development of his mind than with adults. 
The continual watchfulness which should observe all their 
movements will discover constant opportunities to present living 
examples of abstract truths. Every occasion of this kind should 
be seized for this purpose, and the child thus be taught to refer 
his actions, and those of his companions, to a superior law, 
and to comprehend the meaning and importance of this law 
by a continual application of it to his conduct. The most 
striking events in this little world are also made the subject of 
remark in the evening assembly. The pupils are collected in 
two divisions, according to their age and capacity. The oc- 
currences of the day — the faults or excellences which lave 
been noticed — the spirit which has reigned in their studies and 
their amusements — are taken as the themes of observations 
tending to establish some moral principle, or illustrate the 
effects of some course of conduct. The regulations to which 
various exigencies give rise, are here announced. In short, it 
may be said, that the history of the Institution, and of many 
individuals, is in this way daily presented to the pupils as the 
subject of reflection. The devotional exercise with which the 
assembly is closed, is a means of associating the principles thus 
developed and applied with the Creator, and of leading the 
pupils to refer all these rules and principles to their great Source. 
It is contrary to Fellenberg's rules to admit any one to these 
exercises who could not be considered as being directly interested 
in them ; for this would be to make an exhibition of devotion. 
But, on visiting him one evening, I found him, unexpectedly, 
surrounded by a group of the younger children ; and I have 
seldom witnessed a more interesting scene. One of the youngest 
was upon his knees, and he was drawing from him a child-like 
narrative of the events and conduct of the day. The manner 
of the child, and the circumstances he related, were all em- 
N 5 



V 



n 



274- APPENDIX. 

ployed for the instruction of the attentive circle that stood 
around him, and were followed hy a brief and child-like prayer, 
without any change of position. The whole reminded me most 
forcibly of a similar scene described in the Gospels. In this 
manner the history of the Institution, and of each pupil, is con- 
tinually presented as a means of inculcating moral and religious 
truth, of bringing it home to the hearts of the pupils, and im- 
printing it on their memories. The pupil is thus prepared to 
observe man in a more extended sphere of action, and to reason, 
and to judge, without embarrassment, concerning more im- 
portant relations and the great events of history. It is only a 
wider and more important field ; and one which furnishes 
occasion for the illustration of every truth and eyery duty of 
morality and religion. At a period when the learned and 
refined world of Europe considered revelation at best but a 
beautiful fable, Fellenberg did not fail to perceive, nor hesitate 
to maintain, the importance and the necessity of the Scriptures. 
He remarks, on this topic, that the history of past ages shows 
us how readily man, in full view of the glorious works of God, 
falls into the grossest errors and the most debasing idolatry. 
To employ his own language : " Every sensual and spiritual 
passion of our nature found gratification in the imaginary 
deification of its pleasures ; and long after the sacred light of 
Christianity had shone forth, the worship of images rose to a 
scandalous pitch in the very bosom of the church. But we see 
in our days, that every thing which parents, which nature, which 
conscience, and the observation of our own hearts, can accom- 
plish for the moral development of children, is inadequate. On 
this account, the means which the history of the Old Testament 
affords for this ohject should render it most welcome to every 
educator. The perception of God could not be given to children 
in a manner more pure, more excellent, or more attractive, 
than by the representations which the Old Testament contains 
of the patriarchs in their intercouse with the Invisible — the 
Most High — the Most Holy. By means of these ample and 
living historical representations, the existence of God, and his 
relations with men, are first firmly established in the conviction 
of the pupil, and the various ideas he acquires arrange them- 
selves around his primitive conception of our Heavenly Father." 
It presents us examples, and shows us the results of every 
species of virtue and vice, in every state of society, with a 
simplicity and vividness which interest and instruct the child 



APPENDIX. 275 

no less than the mature man, and supplies him with models and 
warnings which will serve as the guides of his future life. Let > 
this he the first history presented to him, and let him he deeply 
imhued with the spirit of the Bihle hefore the degraded or im- j 
perfect morality of Greece and Rome, or the monstrous fahles 
of mythology, are Drought to his view. 

LETTER XV. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 

My dear Friend, — In my last letter I described to you the 
course hy which Fellenherg helieves that a child must he led to 
the elements of religious truth, beginning with the affectionate 
care and tender caresses of the mother, which open his mind to 
the conception of a supreme Preserver and Benefactor, to whose 
works he is directed as the evidence of his existence, and carry- 
ing him on by a course of lessons founded on the observations 
of himself and those around him, attended with the examples 
and instructions of the Bible, to a practical conception of the - 
great duties of life. 

I quoted his remark that, "we see, even in oar own day, 
that every thing which parents, which nature, which conscience, 
and the observation of our own hearts, can accomplish for the 
moral development of children is inadequate. It is on this 
account that the aid which Scripture history affords should be 
welcome to every educator." He therefore makes it a part of 
the course of regular instruction at the earliest period when the 
child is capable of understanding its simple narratives. Scripture 
history is peculiarly important, because it informs us of the 
agency and superintendence of the Deity in the events of this 
world. General history is not, therefore, unnecessary or use- 
less. It embraces an account of many excellent men, often in 
circumstances more analogous to our own, and serves to illus- 
trate and confirm the lessons derived from the Scriptures. 

Thus far, he observes, we are chiefly confined to the sphere 
of " what may be called natural religion ; " and as some doubts 
have been suggested concerning his views of revelatiori, you 
will be gratified with a full account of his views, in his own 
language, addressed to his assistants, at a period when efforts 
had been made, with too much success, to undermine the re- 
ligious belief of his pupils. 

He remarks, that if all our observations of the objects of 
N 6 



276 APPENDIX. 

nature, and the operations of our own minds, and the history of 
man, " lead us to the Deity as the creator and the moral 
governor of the world, how ought we to welcome a revelation 
from Him ?." — "a revelation that harmonises in the most perfect 
manner with the instructions which have been already afforded 
us, in so many ways, in the sphere of what is termed natural 
religion, concerning our highest good, and adds security to our 
faith, which might be impaired by the strength of common 
opinion, if no higher sanction was afforded, and it were left 
solely to the support of our weakness and frailty, — a revelation 
which, in the midst of a world sunk in selfishness, inculcates 
tha most extensive, the noblest benevolence, which teaches us 
to love even our enemies, and to do them good, which recom- 
mends it not merely by words, but by actions, which excites us 
to practice it by the example of Jesus Christ, who (as all admit) 
voluntarily endured the greatest sufferings, and gave Himself to 
the death of the cross for the sake of our race, — a revelation 
comprising a moral law, which the eighteen centuries that have 
since elapsed have been as little able to excel as the preceding 
ages were to attain in purity, and a code of moral instruction 
which penetrates the sanctuaries of human nature, which leaves 
no depths and no heights of it unexplored, and is adapted to all 
its peculiarities, — a revelation which has continued to advance 
in its triumph over the vices and prejudices of men for 1800 
years, notwithstanding all the weaknesses of those to whom it 
was committed, has maintained itself against all the attacks of 
its enemies, and through all these contests, as through a series 
of confirming and purifying trials, has become the highest glory 
of Humanity and Divinity." " How is it possible that such a 
revelation, when exhibited, should not be embraced by human 
spirits, especially at a period in which miserable indifference, 
or sometimes even worse fanaticism, play their corrupting game 
with the highest good of our race and its only means of safety, 
in a manner more presumptuous and bold than ever before? 
Never could the exalted character of Jesus Christ be more 
appropriately presented to the adoration of our race, than at this 
moment ! Never could the imitation of the example He has 
given us, in the instruction of the ignorant, the direction of the 
wandering, and the deliverance of the world from evil, be more 
strongly recommended to the true philanthropist ! " " Were 
Christian faith withdrawn from us, we should be deprived of 
the only soil in which the tender shoots of good which appear 



APPENDIX. 277 

in childhood can he trained to produce fragrant blossoms and 
sanctifying fruits." " We establish oar institutions upon the basis 
of genuine Christianity : we proceed, in the commencement of 
our labours, upon the essential principles and conditions of 
the Gospel. Every sound system of education must rest on the 
instructions of Jesus Christ. In those instructions is given 
the substance of its theory ; the best practical example for the 
educator is to be found in the Saviour of men ; and, in the result, 
we should aim at no other object than the realisation of that 
kingdom of God to which He has directed mankind." " The great 
traits of the character of Christ may, at the commencement, 
seem to our pupils like the first dawning rays of the morning, 
which are scattered and almost lost in the clearness of an 
unclouded horizon. The mind of the child at this period is 
far from being capable of comprehending his Divine love, em- 
bracing all mankind with inexhaustible and profound sympathy 
— his unbounded devotion to the welfare of our race : we should 
therefore do well to let this exhibition rest upon his mind some 
time after it is first presented, before we attempt to follow out 
this important subject into all its details." ^ 

The study of Grecian and Roman history, it is observed, will 
enrich the mind with subjects for comparison and illustration, 
and enable the pupil to perceive the pre-eminence of Christianity 
over all the superstitions of those cultivated nations, and the 
philosophy of their wise men. It will also show him the urgent 
need of a revelation, and prepare him for a more complete 
course of Scripture history, in which the life, character, and 
instructions of Christ should be more fully exhibited. The 
portion of the course I have now described is designed to be 
equally applicable to the pupils of various sects — Catholics, 
Greeks, Lutherans, and Reformed — which are found in the In- 
stitution. In establishing the Institution for all sects, Fellenberg 
feels bound to cherish rather than impair their attachment to 
the religion of their fathers ; and therefore avoids all doctrinal 
instruction which could excite doubts or hostility. It is in- 
tended, rather, to be a course of Christian morality, compris- 
ing the general duties we owe towards,] God, as well as those 
towards man. He also considers it hazardous to present the 
difficult or mysterious doctrines of religion too early to the 
minds of children. In calling upon them to attend to subjects 
entirely beyond their comprehension, and incapable of applica- 
tion to their own circumstances, they acquire the habit, either 



278 APPENDIX. 

I of listening with indifference to the most important of subjects, 
or of employing words without ideas, both equally pernicious to 
" their intellectual improvement and their religious feeling. 

He also adopts, as a fundamental principle, the declaration of 
our Saviour : " If any man will do his will, he shall know of the 
doctrine whether it be of God." He believes the best prepara- 
tion for understanding and valuing the precepts of Christianity 
is to implant its spirit in the heart, and accustom the pupil to 
act it out in the life. It is for want of an analogous sympathy 
or feeling, that the world so often consider<the genuine feelings 
of the Christian extravagant, and his conduct quixotic. Indeed, 
both reason and experience combine to show us, that it is not 
until the child has been accustomed to the exercise of benevo- 
lent feelings, and to their display in action, that he can under- 
stand the assurance, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." 
It is not until he has made a multitude of unsuccessful efforts 
to walk steadily in the course which duty and prudence point 
out to him, that he can realise his need of aid and guidance, or 
attach any value to the command, " If any man lack wisdom, 
let him ask of God, who giveth liberally, and upbraideth 
not." 
v In this portion of education, especially, it is important that 
I action should follow instruction ; that practice should be in- 
f timately connected with theory ; that the pupil may never be 
f left to consider his religious sentiments as a thing separated 
I from his ordinary life. It is indispensable that this habit be 
I early formed. Whoever has not been accustomed from " his 
infancy, in every part of his intercourse with others, to observe 
the rule, ' Do unto others as ye would that others should do 
unto you,' even to the most minute details of doing and re- 
fraining, and with conscientious care, will not learn, at a later 
period, to regulate his conduct by this fundamental rule of the 
moral law without the greatest difficulty." Hence the frequent 
imperfections of daily conduct in those who seem anxious to do 
their duty. But, in addition to this elementary and practical course, 
each pupil is consigned to the care of a clergyman of his own 
church, whose daily duty it is to introduce him to the doctrines 
of Christianity as professed by his parents. The course of 
Scripture history is continued or reviewed, and portions are 
committed to memory. Portions or books of the Scriptures are 
next read, and explained in a critical manner. A summary of 
Christian doctrines and duties, expressed in the most simple 



APPENDIX. 279 

scriptural language, concludes the instruction of the inferior 
classes. 

The higher classes study a more extended Scriptural cate- 
chism of Christian doctrine, as connected with natural religion 
and morals. The explanation of the New Testament in Greek, 
and, finally, general views of ecclesiastical history, complete the 
course of religious instruction. The public service of the 
Sabbath is conducted by the clergymen alternately. Two 
religious lessons are given to each class during the week, and 
the pupils are required to give an account of the discourse of 
the preceding Sunday, and receive explanations on points which 
may not have been understood. With those who are unwilling 
to receive religious lessons, no compulsion is used. Time is 
given to overcome their prejudices, and soften their dispositions, 
and they are left to acquire gradually the spirit of the Insti- 
tution. 

Such is the course of religious instruction adopted by Fellen- 
berg to meet the wants and the prejudices of the various sects 
to whom his institutions have been opened. The task is one of 
difficulty, which few would be willing to uudertake ; and while 
mere spectators will be disposed to regard the system as too 
rigid or too liberal, according to their respective opinions, I 
feel bound to say that I found the spirit of Christianity per- 
vading the daily intercourse and habits of Hofwyl to a degree 
which I have seldom witnessed in a public institution. 



LETTER XVI. 

INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION 

THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH THE PUPIL IS TO BE GUIDED IN 
THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 

My dear Friend, — You are familiar with the general prin- 
ciples of the productive school of education of which Fellenberg 
his been so important a member. In accordance with thele, he 
divides t he whole period of education into two principal por- 
tions. The first should be devoted chiefly to the development \ 
of the physical, moral, and intellectual powers ; the second, tof 
their application, or to the acquisition of that positive knowledge I 
which the destination or taste of the pupil may require. Of' 
course, knowledge must be acquired during the first period, as 
the only means of developing the mind ; but he believes it should 



280 APPENDIX. 

.not be made the primary object. There should be a course, 
) not regulated by the order of science nor by any fixed rule, 
,! but by the necessities of the individual. The subjects of atten- 
tion in this period of education should be as various as the 
faculties to be developed. It would be considered very irra- 
tional to leave one limb in inactivity, in order to devote the time 
exclusively to the exercise of the other, when both were equally 
in need of invigoration ; or to cover the eyes for months in suc- 
cession, in order to cultivate the ear for music. It is not less 
so to employ a child for months together in an occupation 
which calls into exercise one set of faculties and leaves another 
dormant. / The whole system should march harmoniously 
together -J the feebleness of his young mind requires that it 
should not be occupied too long at once. The infantile powers, 
both bodily and mental, demand frequent changes of occupation, 
and are incapable of that concentration necessary to success in 
the course we have described. For this reason, in place of ex- 
tending the circle of studies as the pupil advances, as is usually 
I done, it should be by degrees more contracted, and he should 
be required to apply more closely to a single subject for a 
greater length of time. It is only when the development of 
the faculties is completed, and the time for their application is 
arrived, that it is proper to continue for months in succession 
the same pursuits. In regard to the mode of pursuing these 
studies, the views of Fellenberg are also in accordance with the 
essential principle of the productive system. His maxim is, 
f " that only which a man produces by combining the materials 
\ presented to him, or which he, to a certain degree, reproduces 
in his imagination, until it becomes a part of his own train of 
thought, can be considered as a real acquisition, or can contri- 
| bute satisfactorily to the development of his mind." The duty 
of the instructor is, not to create powers, but to develop those 
already existing, by exciting them to action — not to infuse 
knowledge into the brain of his pupils, but to direct him in 
acquiring it : it is to point out the objects which demand his 
attention, and which are adapted to his age and capacity ; to 
prevent him from following circuitous and erroneous paths, or 
attending to unimportant particulars, which would only occasion 
loss of time ; to lead him to observe in the best manner, and to 
assist him in overcoming or explaining the difficulties he en- 
counters. If the pupil need onore aid than this, it is usually an 
evidence that the task is beyond his present strength : it should 



^APPENDIX. 281 

be deferred until his mind is developed and invigorated by 
other means. It is with these views that he is required to take 
each step as far as possible by himself, -without being carried in 
the arms of the instructor. He must be led, not only to ob- 
serve and describe, but to connect and classify the objects he 
observes ; to combine the facts he may have learned, and deduce 
principles ; and again reduce these principles to others, more 
general and more simple. He must be called on to apply them 
to other circumstances ; to employ them in ascertaining or 
verifying other facts, and in performing new operations of ex- 
periment or of practical utility ; to devise the means of accom- 
plishing an object proposed, or discover the method of esta- 
blishing, as a general truth, the result of a single experiment, as 
in geometry and mathematics. In short, he should be taught 
that all human science has been constructed by means of the 
same faculties, in various degrees of power and activity, which 
he himself possesses, from the materials which are also within 
his reach, either in observation or in history. At the same time 
he must be reminded that men have been accumulating facts 
and observations for ages ; that many have devoted their whole 
lives to arrange them, and deduce from them certain principles, 
which have been established on their present basis only after 
repeated failures ; that a life would scarcely suffice to produce 
completely a single science ; and that, on this account, he must 
often be content to rely on the testimony of other men in re- 
gard to facts and principles which it is not in his power to 
ascertain, and avail himself of the experience and remarks of 
others, where it would occupy too much time, or require greater 
advances in knowledge, to obtain the results for himself. It 
is obvious that this course of reasoning is not to be presented 
at once in its abstract forms ; but, on the contrary, it ■ should 
be the result of his own inquiries and remarks, under the gui- 
dance of the instructor. Observation should always precede 
reasoning; theory should always be founded upon practice. 
In language, for instance, let a number of examples be pre- 
sented, in which the same arrangement or form prevails : 
the most inattentive child, of ordinary capacity, will be 
struck by the resemblance, will imitate the form, when re- 
quired to construct new sentences of the same sort, and will 
usually of himself express the rule which they illustrate : 
present him a geometrical figure, give him its name, and em- 
ploy him in observing the relations of its sides and angles, and 



282 APPENDIX. 

he will speedily produce a definition more or less perfect : show 
him a mineral, a plant, an animal, and require a description of 
its form and parts ; present a number in succession, require him 
to compare them, and to arrange those which are similar, to 
observe the parts which are common to several of these groups, 
and to all, and you lead him to the ideas of individuals, species, 
and genus. He is now prepared to understand the manner in 
which others have performed the same task, and to listen with 
eagerness and interest to the rules, definitions, and classification 
which they have formed, after more extensive observations or 
more mature reflection ; to use them in correcting his own, and 
to seek thenceforward to avail himself of these aids, so valuable 
in avoiding error, and arriving speedily at general truths. He 
thus learns the necessity of receiving with implicit confidence 
such statements from authentic sources as his own experience 
does not permit him to verify. 

The same course should be pursued as far as possible in verbal 
subjects, and with the same ultimate precaution. Let him be 
taught to examine, to reason in regard to all which he can dis- 
cover ; let him be made to feel his ignorance on other points, to 
perceive that there are subjects which are beyond the reach of 
human observation or inquiry, and then he may be taught to 
welcome the light of revelation, and to transfer to the word of 
God that faith which he has been accustomed to repose in the 
declarations of men. But wherever it is necessary to furnish 
him with materials which are not within his reach, or assist 
him in difficulties which he is himself incapable of surmounting, 
he should be invariably required to reproduce what he has 
learned in descriptions and analyses, both oral and written ; to 
recast the subject in his own mould, to illustrate the object de- 
scribed and the reasoning employed, in his own mode ; and 
to express the opinions to which they have led him, or the 
feelings they have excited. This method of instruction is not 
only best adapted to give the pupil a thorough knowledge of all 
he acquires, but is also the best means of exercising the facul- 
ties, and the only method of enabling the educator to ascertain 
the capacity and defects of the pupil whose character he is 
called upon to form. 



APPENDIX. 283 

LETTER XVII. 

THE PLEASURE OF INTELLECTUAL EFFORT AND THE LOVE OF 
KNOWLEDGE POWERFUL STIMULANTS TO EXERTION. 

... . A 

My dear Friend, — In Fellenberg's opinion, it is also a point 
of essential importance in education, to render every subject 
and every occupation, to which the child is called upon to attend, 
as interesting as possible. I 

The attention which we pay to a subject, the facility with 
which we receive impressions, and the success with which we 
perform any labour, are, from the necessity of our nature, in 
proportion to the interest they excite. To attempt to excite a 
painful interest hy severe punishments, when the opposite course 
may be taken, is to produce associations which will lead to the 
abandonment of the employment in question as early as possible. 
This is a sufficient ground for condemning such a plan, without 
speaking of the utter want of benevolence which it involves, or 
of the question whether we have a right to trample upon the 
buds of childish enjoyment in order to secure to the pupil an 
additional amount of knowledge — of knowledge, too, which his 
repugnance proves is not adapted to his state or capacity ; and 
whose acquisition will become easy as well as agreeable at a 
later period. But experience proves that other means are ade • 
quate, nay, more efficacious, for producing that degree of interest 
which is necessary to lead on the pupil in studies suited to his 
age and development. 

It is by no means allowable, in the view of Fellenberg, to j 
render labour a mere amusement, or to reduce the acquisition j 
of knowledge, to a series of games. JThis would deprive us of the 
means which study, as well as other kinds of industry, affords 
in exciting the powers to vigorous action, in cultivating the 
habit of self-government, and in preparing the individual to en- 
counter the difficulties and labours of real life with courage and 
perseverance. It would produce a feeble development, a sickly 
taste, which longs after some exterior excitement, and demands 
that every thing which is presented should be rendered pala- 
table, in place of that healthy intellectual appetite which finds 
its gratification in that which nourishes. It is, in fact, encou- 
raging the taste for play, and not for study, and rendering 
knowledge a means, when it should be presented as the end. 
The principles already described, if carried into effect from 
infancy, will almost of themselves lead to this result. The 



284 APPENDIX. 

Creator has so formed us, that our very enjoyment consists in 
the active employment of our powers. The butterfly does not 
more truly rejoice to flutter in the sunbeams, or the lamb to 
sport in the meadows, than the child to exercise the powers 
which God has given him, if the proper objects are presented to 
engage them. Were we always to present only such objects, to 
demand only such efforts, as are adapted to their capacity of 
mind, and the powers of attention belonging to their age and 
their system, the employment of their minds in the pursuit of 
knowledge would interest them no less than the exercise of their 
bodies in play. Unfortunately, the early methods of education 
too often leave many of their powers unawakened, by confining 
the view of the child to the narrow circle of objects found in 
his nursery or play -ground, because the duties or the indolence 
of those who have the charge of him do not permit that watch- 
fulness which is necessary in a more extended circle of ob- 
servation, nor even guidance and assistance in discovering new 
objects and modes of exercise. His expanding faculties are 
restrained, lest they should interfere with the convenience of 
others, instead of allowing them ample space, and the free use 
of all the materials necessary for the examination of all that is 
presented to him, and the execution of all the projects and ex- 
periments which would serve as exercises for his ingenuity and 
a means of leading him on to the acquisition of new facts, and 
the habit of more accurate observations, 

A rational course of education is often obstructed by the de- 
mands which necessity or prejudice makes for the earliest in- 
struction possible. The child is thus obliged to confine himself 
for hours to the same positions and the same tasks, at an age 
when his body writhes with impatience under such constant re- 
straints ; and his mind is confused and wearied by the necessity 
of fixing its feeble powers of attention so long on a single sub- 
ject. So long as the demands of parents, or the necessity which 
circumstances seem to impose, require this premature develop- 
ment, the educator is compelled to submit, or to leave the task 
entirely in the hands of those who will pursue it merely as a 
means of earning bread. |He must therefore endeavour to pro- 
vide by greater exertions} and by the aid of artificial arrange- 
ments, those means of cheerfulness which should arise naturally 
from giving only such tasks to each pupil as would excite 
without fatiguing his mind ; and the child must be taught to 
sacrifice his inclinations, and to make efforts which would not 



APPENDIX. 285 

otherwise be demanded, to gratify his parents and comply with 
the universal prejudice. 

You will probably ask how the object proposed in my last 
letter is to be accomplished. In order to render a study inter- 
esting, it is of the greatest importance to present it in connection 
with the practical purposes to which it is to be applied, or with 
sensible and practical illustrations, by means of objects, pictures, , 
experiments, or narratives. Thus the study of a language j 
should be connected as much as possible with the history of ! 
those who speak it ; and that of the mathematics, natural history, 
and morals, with their practical application. In the language 
of Fellenberg, "instruction should be followed by action as 
closely as the lightning by the thunder ; and the life should be 
in complete harmony with the studies : they should be en- 
couraged and assisted to put in execution any plan or expe- 
riments which their studies have suggested, and will thus gain 
more than by any direct explanation. It is in this mode only 
that we can hope to prevent that lamentable contrast so often 
visible between the opinions and actions of men, and which is 
frequently caused by the entire separation of theory and practice 
to which their early education has accustomed them." 

It is also very important to maintain a degree of harmony in 
the various pursuits of the pupils. Each science should be con- 
nected by as many links as possible with every other. " The 
extent of scientific cidtivation demanded at the present day," 
says Fellenberg, " renders it particularly desirable that every 
part of the great edifice should be arranged in a certain har- 
mony with the rest ; that all hould be so intimately united, that 
the portions most heterogeneous may contribute mutually to the 
support of each other and to the strength of the whole fabric." 
Their mutual dependence should be illustrated, and the light 
and aid they afford each other be pointed out. Thus geography 
and history are closely connected with the natural sciences, and 
both derive important aid from the mathematics ; drawing also 
has its interest greatly increased when allied with these pursuits, 
by calling on the pupil to design the objects he described, and 
draw the diagrams, and maps, and sketches necessary to illus- 
trate the subjects of his study. The description of the objects 
observed includes their form and size involving the principles 
and definitions of geometry, and at the same time brings into re- 
quisition the principles of language. "Where several languages 
are studied, the analogies and distinctions discovered in com- 



286 APPENDIX. 

paring them give new interest to every one, and furnish in 
themselves a rich field of observation. The relation observable 
between the language and the general knowledge or favourite 
sciences of a people, and the influence of the language on the 
sciences, character, and alliances of nations, may also be re- 
ferred to, although in its extent it is a subject of profound phi- 
losophical investigation. But the pupil of every age will take 
deep interest in tracing the connections and variations of lan- 
guages in the history of nations, and observing the traces of 
colonies, of conquests, of the union of nations, of the influence 
of learned men, and the progress of science, in the mixture of 
foreign words and idioms -which is found in the modern lan- 
guages, and which distinguishes them especially from the more 
ancient. 

The connection of the rhythm and tones of music with those 
employed in poetry and declamation cannot be passed over 
without obvious neglect of an important aid to the development 
of the taste and powers of elocution. 

Above all, the connection and influence of these various studies 
upon the moral powers and religious feelings should never be 
lost sight of. The books employed in teaching the languages 
should also be made the instruments of conveying lessons of a 
moral nature, and should tend to confirm and elevate the reli- 
gious feelings. Nature, and the sciences connected with it, as 
well as history, afford important and ample means of enlarging 
the moral horizon and elevating the moral feeling. The ma- 
thematical sciences and their application furnish frequent occa- 
sion to admire the power which God has given to man of 
measuring space, and extending his calculation through future 
periods of time ; while it is highly important to keep in view of 
the pupil the difference between its demonstrations founded in 
hypothesis, and never applicable without modification to facts, 
and those proofs which rest on moral evidence. An air of 
cheerfulness on the part of the instructor himself is a circum- 
stance of the first importance in inspiring the pupil's interest in 
his studies. A severe, magisterial air, may impose silence and 
excite awe, but will never rouse to exertion or animate to in- 
quiry. The pupil should see that the instructor himself is deeply 
interested in his task, or he will not fail to regard it with in- 
difference. Even animals are not insensible to the cheering 
tones of their master, and the susceptible feelings of youth im- 
bibe at once the tint of surrounding objects. If children can be 



APPENDIX. 287 

induced to commence their tasks with gaiety, they accomplish 
them with ease ; if on the other hand, the gloom of their teacher 
casts a shadow over the subjects he presents, they approach them 
with reluctance, and attend to them without zeal or interest. 

LETTER XVIII. 

OBJECT OF INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. MODE OF STUDYING. 

My dear Friend, — I have before stated to you that, in the 
view of Fellenberg, the great object of intellectual education is to 
develop and cultivate the intellectual faculties. It is not merely to 
accumulate as much positive knowledge as possible ; fcr this 
often proves a mere burden to the mind, which is thrown aside 
to make room for the practical knowledge and multiplied cares 
of active life. It is to strengthen the mind itself by exercise ; 
it is to produce, by means of appropriate studies, in every in- 
tellectual faculty, the highest degree of vigour and intensity of 
which it is capable ; it is to form the habit and give the power 
of acquiring easily and retaining permanently every species of 
knowledge which we may need at various periods of life. This 
is an acquisition which we cannot lose, without long and gross 
negligence, and which is valuable in all circumstances and situ- 
ations in life. 

Instruction is here not the end but the means ; and while it will 
always furnish us with a knowledge which we can apply to im- 
portant purposes, its greatest value is in the effect it has in per- 
fecting those instruments by which we are to acquire and apply 
knowledge hereafter, in the particular sphere in which Pro- 
vidence may place us. To attain this object, intensity and accu- 
racy, rather than extent and variety, should be the objects aimed 
at in the acquisition of knowledge. It is not the surface which the 
conqueror overruns that decides the value of his conquests ; it 
is the power he has to secure them : without this, their very 
extent will prove the means of their entire loss, by the dispersion 
of his forces, and the impracticability of concentrating them 
upon a single point. What the pupil has gained superficially is 
speedily lost ; and he has not acquired the force and vigour, and 
habits of application, necessary to make solid conquests in the 
empire of science. In short, it is of the highest importance to 
conduct the pupil in such a manner that he -will not afterwards 
be contented without a thorough knowledge of everything within 
his reach.. It is in this view important not to allow him to 



288 APPENDIX. 

devote too much of his time to mere reading. It is easy to read 
and to amuse ourselves in this manner without understanding 
thoroughly what we read. There is a constant inducement to 
seek that occupation and interest in running over a number of 
books which should be found in examining deeply every subject 
which is presented. Such reading is the most certain means of 
forming superficial students and superficial thinkers. It pro- 
duces a disgust for study, and renders the pupil incapable of that 
continued and fixed attention which is necessary to success in 
more than one branch of knowledge : often in the course of 
reading the pupil learns superficially those facts which form the 
most interesting parts of his lessons, his interest in them is de- 
stroyed, and he no longer pays the attention necessary to learn 
the facts he has anticipated in connection with the principles 
they illustrate. If the books are not written in the spirit of the 
method adopted by the teacher, as is frequently the case, they 
will produce confusion in his mind, and impair his confidence in 
his guide : Fellenberg therefore believes that this taste should 
rather be discouraged than excited ; and that, in a perfect system 
of education, there should in fact be no time for reading. There 
l should be such ample provision both for instruction and amuse- 
ment, adapted to the capacity and 'taste of the pupil, that it 
shall be unnecessary either for the one or the other. 

LETTER XIX. 

PERCEPTION. — FIRST STEPS IN ITS CULTIVATION. — OBSERVATION 

OF OBJECTS. DESCRIPTION AND DELINEATION. — GEOGRAPHY. 

DESIGN. MUSIC. 

My dear Friend, — In applying theprinciples I have described, 
each faculty of the mind is the subject of special attention and 
appropriate provision. 

In the system of intellectual education at Hofwyl, it is assumed 
that the faculty of perception is that which demands the earliest 
attention and cultivation, and which must serve as the basis of 
all the rest. It is by directing it to the examination of form and 
number that the first development is to be attained, in connec- 
tion with the cultivation of the senses which this necessarily re- 
quires. The first steps are irregular, and intended to excite the 
attention and interest of the child in this species of occupation, 
and of course they are varied according to his age, capacity, and 
disposition: they should be commenced by the mother, with 



APPENDIX. 289 

the infant : care should be taken to give the little observer time 
to examine every thing at -which he looks, instead of distracting 
his attention by perpetually offering him new playthings, or 
carrying him in rapid succession from one object to another. 
As he becomes able to compare, let two objects of the same kind 
or form be shown ; then two which differ from each other ; and 
as soon as he is able to comprehend language, let the names of 
forms, as well as objects, be given, and those which indicate com- 
parative size be made familiar. But a full account of the methods 
to be employed for this purpose would require a distinct essay, 
and I must limit myself to the school. The child's first regidar 
lesson at school may be to make several points upon his slate, 
and to arrange them in every possible variety of form. His 
next lesson may be a similar exercise, with two lines placed in 
different positions so as to form angles, and then with three or 
more connected so as to produce figures. The name of each 
angle and figure which results is taught at the moment, and he 
is required to describe in ivords what he has done, agreeably to 
t» the well-known principle of Pestalozzi, to combine observation, 
drawing, and language in the same exercise. He is called on con- 
tinually, as he proceeds, to observe the objects in the room, and 
to point out their resemblance to the figures he has been drawing ; 
he is required to name each line and angle of these objects, and 
to describe them in words ; and finally, to draw such as can be 
represented by simple, rectilinear figures. The elements of 
number are next combined with these exercises. The number 
of points and lines and objects in the room is mentioned, and 
the language of numeration is acquired. Number is at first 
taught irregul.rly, as was observed with regard to form ; but 
gradually the two subjects are divided, and treated separately, 
and regular courses of instruction and exercise in linear drawing 
and in mental arithmetic are the result. "When the instructor 
has exhausted the means which the interior of the house furnishes 
for such a purpose, he should direct his pupil's attention to a 
wider circle, and lead him to the court, the garden, the meadows 
and fields, and so on to hill and dale, lake, stream, and sea, so 
far as they are within his reach. Not only should the form, 
colour, and appearance of objects be carefully noted and de- 
scribed, but their size and distance should constantly be estimated 
by the eye and immediately verified in the most careful and accu- 
rate measurement. " We should never forget," says Fellenberg, 
" the influence which the manner of solving such problems in the 
o 



; 



290 APPENDIX. 

course of education exerts on the subsequent formation of the 
character and activity of the mind. Circumstances like these 
in the early habits decide in a great measure whether a man 
shall be superficial and desultory throughout life, or whether he 
shall maintain the contrary habits of application and accuracy 
with honourable perseverance." The next step in the progress of 
the pupil is to the minute observation of various natural objects 
and phenomena. His teacher accompanies him abroad, calls his 
attention to the various objects around him, or the phenomena 
which occur, and requires him to describe, and if necessary to 
explain them, to compare and distinguish, and to trace effects to 
their causes. If they are unable to do it, they are taught their 
need of their teacher's assistance, and prepared to demand and 
receive instruction as a favour, instead of feeling themselves 
compelled to listen to it as a task. Each pupil is in turn called 
upon to ask the instructor several questions concerning what he 
sees. At first, objects are taken casually as they occur ; but as 
soon as a sufficient stock of materials is collected, and the pupils 
are familiarised to comparison and distinctions, the instructor 
gradually passes to the several kingdoms of nature, and to the 
classes, genera, and species of minerals, plants, and animals, 
and finally completes a course of natural history. 

In excursions of the same kind, the pupil is introduced to the 
elements of physical geography. He is led to observe the differences 
of surface — the plains, aud mountains, and valleys ; the origin and 
course of streams ; their expansion into lakes ; the difference 
of exposure of land to the sun and winds ; the varieties of soil, 
and the consequent varieties of the state of vegetation in the 
fields and small districts of country which he traverses. From 
this centre, his views are subsequently expanded in walks and 
journeys to the neighbouring villages and cantons, especially in 
the annual tours I have described. He is taught to draw plans 
and write descriptions of what he sees ; and is thus prepared to 
extend his views over the whole earth, at a later period, by 
means of maps and descriptions. The facility acquired in linear 
drawing is constantly brought into requisition in delineating 
the situation of objects, and the first ideas are acquired of the 
nature and use of maps. This exercise is deemed essential to 
enable the pupil to comprehend those which are drawn by 
others, and ultimately to familiarise himself with those objects 
and regions which he knows only by description. All me- 
chanical means, such as copying maps by the light, should be 



APPENDIX. 291 

carefully avoided. The elements of geometry next succeed. Lines, 
angles, and circular figures should be drawn, measured, compared, 
and divided by the eye alone, without the use of instruments. At 
this period of instruction, design is cultivated more extensively. 
At first it is confined to the more difficult varieties of form which 
are produced by dissections and combinations of those previously 
known. The pupil is next taught to draw from objects around 
him. The most simple method of commencing this course is 
to place before the pupil a rod (as the representative of a line), 
suspended in such a manner that it may be presented in different 
positions — horizontal, perpendicular, and oblique ; in a plane 
perpendicular to the axis of the eye ; then in the same position 
in a plane oblique to the eye ; and ultimately in the plane of the 
axis of the eye. He is required to draw it as it appears to him. 
The pupil is thus compelled to become familiar with foreshort- 
ening, or the apparent diminution of length which residts from 
presenting an object obliquely to the eye ; and gradually acquires 
that facility of observing at a glance which is termed the coup 
d'osil, and for which we have no corresponding English name. 
Agreeably to the plan of Herbert, a triangle is next presented, 
as the most simple rectilinear figure. It is suspended in the 
same manner and in the same variety of positions. Regular 
solids, as cubes, hexahedrons, cones, globes, &c. are the next 
subjects for design, and lead the pupil to perceive the necessity 
and to acquire imperceptibly the rules of perspective. Then he 
is obliged to practise thoroughly with these bodies combined 
and arranged in every variety of form. From these, the passage 
is comparatively easy to objects in nature, plants, animals, &c. 

Music serves the same purpose with reference to the ear, as I 
design for the eye, in cultivating the power of observation. f 
Agreeably to the views of Pestalozzi, the fundamental prin- 
ciples of music, the rhythm and melody, are carefully dis- 
tinguished. On this system, the pupil first learns in marching 
and moving his hands, and at the same time counting with his 
voice, to distinguish intervals of time, and to observe the vari- 
ations he can make in sounds, simply by means of more or less 
rapidity of repetition. He is next led to distinguish sounds in 
reference to their musical tone, and to observe and imitate the 
intervals. It is only after a great familiarity in the combination 
of these elements, that his attention is directed to expression 
and harmony. Nothing but personal observation and expe- 
rience can enable one to appreciate the value of the new power 
o 2 



292 APPENDIX. 

thus conferred upon the ear, by a judicious course of musical 
instruction ; and the certainty with which almost every child of 
huudreds may be taught to sing with correctness and a good 
degree of taste. 

LETTER XX. 

MEMORY. — ITS IMPORTANCE. — MODE OF CULTIVATING. — EVILS 
OF INACCURATE RECOLLECTION. — MEMORY OF WORDS. — 
ACCURACY IN REPITITION. 

My dear Friend, — The faculty which is placed next to per- 
ception in the order of development is the memory. It is only 
by this power that our knowledge is placed at our command. 
While it is too generally abused by exclusive cultivation, as the 
means of making mechanical, instead of intelligent scholars — 
parrots, in place of men, it should never be forgotten that it 
is the only instrument by which we can compare objects and 
their relations. The justice of our reasonings, and the truth of 
our decisions, depend entirely on the accuracy with which we 
remember the objects and events about which we reason. Even 
in mathematical reasoning, and arithmetical calculations, which 
are deemed so perfect examples of pure ratiocination, the whole 
result will be false, unless we recollect Avith absolute accuracy 
the previous step. The correctness of our memory depends on 
the habits of attentive observation ; and the same means which 
are employed to develop the power of perception, serve also to 
exercise the memory. There is a continual reference to objects 
and elements previously observed, which leads the pupil to that 
effort of attention necessary for retaining what he learns. The 
frequent demand for minute and accurate descriptions of all that 
has been observed, and the repetition of what is already ac- 
quired, until it is fully understood, and deeply impressed on the 
mind, render the task comparatively easy, and produce that 
habit of complete and accurate description which strikingly 
distinguishes the pupils of this school from those who have not 
been exercised in this manner. 

The habit of recollecting successive objects or events, is 
cultivated in the first place in the same manner. Short nar- 
ratives or descriptions are then given, and the pupil is required 
to repeat them orally and in writing. The lessons of history 
which follow at a later period, are repeated in the same manner ; 
and great care is taken to give the pupil that important habit, 



APPENDIX. 293 

so rarely found, of describing what he has heard and witnessed 
exactly as to the matter, the manner, and the order. How 
many of the most mischievous falsehoods and calumnies ori- 
ginate from the want of this habit ! How often do suspicion, 
and jealousy, and coolness, and even enmity, originate in 
families, and in society, simply from an inaccurate description 
or narrative ! And how often is there reason to fear that the 
innocent suffer and the guilty escape, in our courts of justice, 
from similar causes ! It will require but a little attention to 
the manner in which witnesses of real honesty, and under the 
sanction of an oath, often give their testimony, and the totally 
new aspect which the narrative assumes under the cross ex- 
amination of an acute advocate, to perceive the immense im- 
portance of cultivating a faculty on which the life of others 
often depends. The memory of words, which, for similar 
reasons, is of the highest importance, is obviously cultivated by 
the same exercises. At the same time, as much liberty should 
be left, as is consistent with the choice of good expressions, and 
the pupil should never be allowed to repeat habitually the 
precise language of his teacher, lest he learn to occupy himself 
with words in place of ideas. Still it is necessary to have a 
series of exercises directly appropriated to these objects ; and 
select portions of prose and poetry in the various languages 
with which the pupil is occupied, and especially in his mother 
tongue, are committed to memory. These serve at the same 
time as permanent models, to which the mind refers for style, 
pronunciation, and accent. The study of several different lan- 
guages is also a powerful means of developing this faculty ; and 
in Hofwyl, a proper cultivation of this species of memory en- 
ables more than one of its pupils to study four or five languages 
at once, without confusion. 

To me it seems of no small importance, that the most rigid 
accuracy should be demanded in the repetition of a passage from 
an author, even to the letter, and in the insertion of all those 
pauses and accents which are necessary to exhibit fully the 
meaning of the passage. The pupil should recollect that he is 
giving an account of the ideas and language of another ; and 
absolute correctness should be demanded, in order to impress 
the sentiment of the importance of truth, as a fundamental 
feeling of the mind, and lead him to avoid the slightest variation 
of words or manner, in repeating expressions, where it may 
affect the meaning. Mental calculation aids materially in the 
O 3 



294 APPENDIX. 

cultivation of the memory. The rapid transition which the 
Pestalozzian method requires, from one operation to another, 
and from one memher to another, — and the attention which is 
necessary in retaining the conditions of a proposition, and pur- 
suing, at the same time, a series of calculations with quickness 
and absolute accuracy, — contribute materially to produce that 
readiness of recollection, and that presence of mind, so important 
in practical life. For want of these, how many errors are com- 
mitted, and how many persons waste much of their time and 
labour, and expose themselves both to ridicule and injury ! 

LETTER XXL 

MODES OF CULTIVATING THE JUDGMENT. REASON. — SUB- 
SERVIENCY OF THE STUDY OF LANGUAGES TO ITS DEVELOP- 
MENT. — IMPORTANCE OF MATHEMATICAL STUDIES TO ALL. 

OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE, OF HISTORY. OF MORAL 

SCIENCE. LOGIC. 

My dear Friend, — In my last letter I described to you the 
manner in which the means of intellectual education at Hofwyl 
were employed to cultivate the faculties of perception and 
memory. The power of comparison, or the perception of re- 
lations, which may perhaps be appropriately termed simple 
judgment, next demands attention. It is obvious, that the 
whole series of exercises we have enumerated, in their more 
advanced stages, demand a constant exercise of this power, in 
regard to exterior objects, and prepare it for its application to 
the relations themselves ; and they may therefore be considered 
as the first steps for its cultivation. The study of languages, as 
it is pursued at Hofwyl, also brings this faculty into continual 
exercise in comparing the different species of words, their con- 
nections, relations, and mutual dependence. The comparison 
of two or three languages, studied at once, affords still greater 
scope for the exercise of this faculty, both as to the materials or 
words themselves, and their form and arrangement. Some of 
the most advanced pupils pursue six languages at the same time, 
including their native tongue ; e. g. Greek, Latin, German, 
French, Italian, and English ; and with those of more than or- 
dinary talents and well-trained minds, this has not been found 
injurious. The interest excited, and the associations formed, by 
this view of the elements of general grammar, are found to 
counteract, any tendency to distraction of mind or confusion of 



APPENDIX. 295 

ideas. It is obvious, however, that for an ordinary or untrained 
mind, such a course would result in nothing but the confusion of 
Babel. The pupils are accustomed also to a logical as well as a 
grammatical analysis of the authors they study in order to 
acquire a language. They must possess themselves of the ideas, 
become familiar with the objects or persons described, and learn 
to compare them with those which are within the sphere of 
their own observation. As the mind continues to advance, the 
faculty of reasoning, or comparing different relations, and com- 
bining a series of judgments, in order to form a conclusion, is 
brought more into action. The study of the languages aids 
materially in this point also. The various forms of expression 
are examined in reference to each other, and to the idea pre- 
sented. The shade of thought which has given rise to the 
various idioms is traced, the variations of idea produced by 
change of form are observed, and the reason examined. In 
short, the whole structure of the language is examined as the 
foundation of general grammar, and as an introduction to prac- 
tical logic. As the pupil advances, the analysis of the ideas 
themselves is made more exact, the opinions and reasonings of 
the author are considered, and the pupil is taught, as much as 
possible, to fall into the train of thought of those whose works he 
reads. It is obvious that in pursuing this course, the selection' 
of authors and passages must be such as never to surpass the 
comprehension of the child. For, as Fellenberg justly ob- 
serves, in a passage formerly quoted, " it is folly to attempt to 
make an immature mind pursue indiscriminately the train of 
thought of the greatest of men. It is not reasonable to desire 
to bring down to the level of a child's capacity what pre- 
supposes the intelligence of manhood. The infantile conceptions 
of great objects thus produced, are in effect an obstacle to im- 
provement ; and the important lessons to be learned from an- 
tiquity are debarred all access to the comprehension of the cul- 
tivated youth, and the feelings of the mature man, by the 
childish associations thus united with them." The various 
branches of the mathematics, and especially geometry and 
algebra, are obviously among the most powerful instruments for 
the cultivation of the reflecting faculty which can be applied to 
the youthful mind ; because they relate to form, number, dis- 
tance, motion, &c. — subjects within the grasp of the senses : 
they give, in a very efficient manner, the habit of close and 
accurate reasoning. These sciences make a part of the course 
o 4 



296 APPENDIX. 

of instruction of every pupil, both among the rich and the poof, 
whose capacity and period of residence permit it. The phy- 
sical sciences,"* philosophy, chemistry &c. are of no less ad- 
vantage to the development of the reasoning faculty in another 
direction, especially in aiding us to observe and trace the re- 
lation of cause and effect. 

But both these branches of knowledge may give a false di- 
rection to the mind, if they are not taught with caution and in 
connection with moral science. The certainty of mathematical 
science often inspires the disposition to demand absolute de- 
monstration on other points. The wonderful extent to which 
we can trace and imitate the operations of nature, tempts us to 
rest on second causes, and forget that Power which is necessary 
to establish and maintain the laws which we only discover. For 
this purpose, these studies should not only be conducted in a 
religious spirit, but should be accompanied and alternated with 
those which will give another direction to the mind. History 
is taught in a series of narratives, exhibited with the utmost 
simplicity, as subjects of examination and reasoning. The 
pupil is required to exercise his own judgment. He thus learns 
much of the nature of moral evidence, and moral relations, and 
is accustomed to employ these, as well as mathematical demon- 
stration, as a part of his series of thought, and as a sufficient 
ground for his conclusions. 

In the course of moral and religious instruction, the pupil is 
chiefly conducted by a series of illustrations and reasonings 
founded upon nature and revelation, rather than by positive 
instructions and direct statements, sustained merely by personal 
authority and influence. His own reason is called in to decide, 
according to the standard which God has given tis in conscience 
and revelation, on characters and events, on duties and faults, in 
his own sphere of action, as well as in history, as soon and as 
rapidly as it is capable of deciding. In the advanced period of 
religious instruction, the authority of the Scriptures is formally 
established by moral reasoning, and he is led to learn by his own 
investigation the important truths and duties which reason 
alone has never discovered, and the most essential of which he 
had hitherto been obliged to receive on the authoritj^ of man. 

A similar course is adopted in the moral discipline of the 
pupil, and leads him to feel practically the difference of the 
various classes of truths, and the various methods of reasoning 
by which we must attain them. " It is important for the com- 



APPENDIX. 297 

plete development of this faculty, that the views thus gradually 
and practically acquired, should be connected and arranged at 
the close of the course, by means of a brief system of logic, in 
the scientific form." " It is to be regretted," says Fellenberg, 
" that the demands of social life, or the unhappy haste of parents, 
seldom allow pupils to remain sufficiently long to complete such 
a course of study as their development, so often neglected in 
early years, requires." 

LETTER XXII. 

MODE OF PURSUING MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE. ' — FORM, MAGNI- 
TUDE, AND NUMBER. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. PRAC- 
TICAL DIRECTION OF MATHEMATICAL STUDIES. DANGERS 

ATTENDING THEM. SELF-CONFIDENCE. IMPERFECT VIEWS 

OF MORAL REASONING PRODUCED. ALTERNATION WITH 

MORAL SCIENCE. IMPORTANCE OF A WELL-BALANCED MIND. 

My dear Friend, — You will perceive from my last that the 
importance of the mathematical sciences in cultivating the 
judgment and reasoning powers is properly appreciated at 
Hofwyl. But, in employing them as a means of education, it is 
believed necessary to use great caution, lest they should become 
the means of impairing other intellectual faculties, or enfeebling 
the moral powers, as they too often have been in distinguished 
men devoted to these sciences. 

The ideas of form, and magnitude, and number, are among 
the earliest which are developed in the child, and they are the 
first which the mind is capable of considering abstractly. On 
this account, the elements of the mathematical sciences should 
be very early the object of attention. In the study of mathe- 
matics, Fellenberg considers it necessary to adopt the elementary 
methods of Pestalozzi, which have already been described in j 
speaking of the powers of observation. From the line, the I 
pupil is led to the construction and examination of all possible ; 
forms, in their individual and relative character, from the i 
simple accumulation and analysis of numbers to the pro- j 
cesses of algebra, by presenting or indicating the objects of 
attention, and aiding him to construct this exercise himself. It 
is an indispensable condition that he should not be allowed to 
advance a step forward until he can explain those principles on 
which he is to act. At the same time, the instructor must not 
be guided simply by an arbitrary arrangement, but by the pro- 
o 5 



298 APPENDIX. 

gress of the pupil himself ; and his progress should he directed 
and accelerated, or retarded or varied, with a view to the de- 
velopment of his own mind, and not to the completion of this or 
that portion of his course. 

With those who have only the usual talents for mathematics, 
it is hetter to direct their studies to practical ohjects and to the 
demands of social life. Those uncommon talents for this sci- 
ence which alone inspire a truly scientific interest in it, should 
be carefully observed and developed : but great care must be 
taken that the views be not limited, and the character stiffened 
or warped, by too exclusive attention to this subject. 

The weakness of man often finds too strong temptation in his 
mathematical creations and their fascinating success, as well as 
in philosophical discourses, and is disposed to exalt itself pre- 
sumptuously ; to refer all to itself as the author, instead of 
discovering a new revelation of the wisdom of the omnipotent 
Creator of man and his works. In admiring the wonderful 
correspondence of the movements of the planets in their inac- 
cessible orbits with the calculation of beings so frail, who inhabit 
this portion of the universe only for a span of existence, he 
forgets the evidence it affords of the wisdom of Him who 
established this order, and gave us the faculties which enable us 
to discover it. 

There is also danger that the habit of rigid demonstration may 
lead him to forget or disregard the boundaries which are set to 
human knowledge — to demand similar demonstration concern- 
ing subjects which are beyond our reach — and to treat with 
contempt the objects of faith and the results of moral reasoning. 

For these reasons, mathematical studies should always be 
alternated with history, and natural history, and moral and 
religious instruction. Their effect should also be carefully 
observed ; and Fellenberg has sometimes found himself obliged 
to interrupt them for a time, in order to restore the mind to its 
equilibrium. 

[indeed, no principle is deemed more important at Hofwyl 
tljan to form a ivell-balanced mind; and in this, as well as in 
other processes of education, no reliance is placed upon invari- 
able methods and formulas previously established. The food 
and the medicine must be adapted to the individual case. While 
the mind is merely preparing for action, it should not be per- 
mitted to devote itself so exclusively to any particular subject as 
to lose sight of others, or to undervalue them, or to give to one 



APPENDIX. 299 

that exclusive importance which deserves to he called fanaticism 
or superstition, although it may relate to literary or political 
instead of religious topics. Without great care, this will often 
amount to a species of monomania which impairs the strongest 
mind, and will often give to a single science the pre-eminence 
over the whole system of truth besides ; will make a single 
personal theory the touchstone by which other minds are to be 
tried ; and determine by the knowledge and love of a single 
subject whether an individual deserves respect or esteem. 

Indifferentism, if I may be allowed to coin the word, receives 
no countenance from the example or the precepts of Fellenberg, 
so far as I know ; but he regards this narrowness of feeling as 
the result of a partial, or, in the strong expression of the 
German, a "one-sided" (einseitig) development of the mind; 
and he believes that the best and the only preventive is to give 
such a familiarity with every subject, and require so much atten- 
tion to each, as shall enable the mind to form just comparisons, 
and prevent that exaggerated view of one faculty, or one subject 
or opinion, which is inconsistent with true wisdom. 

LETTER XXIII. 

ABUSE OF TASTE. CHANGE AT THE REFORMATION. INCON- 
SISTENCY. OBJECTS OF TASTE PROVIDED BY THE CREATOR. 

EXTREME. MORAL USE OF TASTE. CAUTION IN CULTI- 
VATING IT. MOTIVES FOR CULTIVATING AND DISPLAYING 

TASTE. ITS INFLUENCE IN PRODUCING HAPPINESS. 

My dear Friend, — The cultivation of the imagination and 
taste is so often neglected and despised, and so often regarded 
as anti-Christian in its tendency, that the views of Fellenberg 
on this point require particular development. 

The licentious abuse of the arts, and their influence in intro- 
ducing idolatry into the church, rendered the innocent cause of 
the evil an object of abhorrence at the Reformation. Excess 
was converted into a famine ; and, in place of merely curbing 
the licentiousness into which the cultivation of this faculty had 
carried men, the attempt was made to extinguish it entirely. 
Such an effort in regai'd to this, as in regard to every other 
fundamental principle of human nature, was in vain. It only 
served to banish a valuable aid from the service of religion, and 
leave the uncontrolled use of it in the hands of those who em- 
ployed it merely to gratify the feelings of the moment, or to 
o 6 



300 APPENDIX. 

attract attention and admiration by the excitement of the pas- 
sions. Yet, with singular inconsistency, an imperfect species of 
music has been preserved in our churches as a necessary and 
proper means of exciting devotional feelings, by the same persons 
who consider all efforts for the higher cultivation of the art as 
betraying a worldly spirit. We should be consistent in our 
views ; above all, we should take care not to despise or neglect 
the powers the Creator has conferred upon us : they were 
certainly not given, nor were their objects provided, in vain. 
Nature was not filled with beauty in form and colour, nor 
animated with harmony of sounds, and we were not rendered 
capable of enjoying and imitating them in new combinations, 
that we might learn to be insensible to their influence. To 
observe the multitude of beautiful descriptions of these objects 
which the Scripture contains, is enough to show us that they 
may occupy the attention and excite the admiration of the 
holiest men, and even under the Divine direction. 

On the other hand, we must avoid the extreme into which 
Herbert fell, in confounding the moral sense with taste — in 
attempting to make beauty the basis of virtue. The one is 
occupied with moral relations ; the other with sensible objects. 
Still, the esthetic principle, -when fully developed, is a material 
aid to the moral one. The connection of these subjects is, like 
many other facts in our nature, not easy to explain, but not the 
less certain. Men of refined taste do not fall into gross vice, at 
least so easily as others. It is also a resource, an aid, in 
resisting the sudden violence of passion, and the seductions of 
appetite, when the feelings are too strongly excited to be affected 
by other motives. 

On this subject Fellenberg observes : " For those who despise 
exercises in the arts, I could only wish the incontestible truth 
■were impressed upon their minds, that a well-formed taste, a 
delicate esthetic judgment, although it can never supply the 
defect of religious feeling, affords on many occasions in life 
more assistance to human weakness than the colder conviction 
of moral duty ; and that, like every thing which is intended to 
adhere indelibly in the character, it should be cultivated in the 
most careful and thorough manner. 

" Music and design are among the best aids in improving the 
taste ; but the study of both should be carefully regulated. 
Every thing of a voluptuous nature should be excluded with 
the utmost care. All excitement or excessive attachment to 



APPENDIX. SOI 

these subjects should be equally avoided or immediately cor- 
rected : they must be regarded, not as the essentials, but as the 
accessories to the character — not as the end, but the means. 
Paintings or music which excite the feelings strongly should 
be presented with caution: but even these are occasionally 
useful ; they serve as so many experiments to show the pupil 
his own character and the emotions of which he is susceptible. 
The motive presented to the individual for the cultivation and 
exhibition of his taste should be, on the one hand, the improve- 
ment of his own character, the provision of a new sense for 
discovering and enjoying the objects which God has provided 
for its gratification ; and, on the other hand, that love to our 
neighbour which leads us to seek and employ every means to 
promote his happiness." 

I was struck by the correspondence of these views with a 
remark of the late venerable Dwight : " The great object of 
Divine benevolence is the happiness of his creatures ; and he who 
promotes the happiness of a little child for half an hour is a 
fellow-worker with God." By means of these acquisitions, the 
man of cultivated taste may fill up the moments in which those 
around him are overcome with weariness or worn down with 
care ; he may refresh their minds with imitations of the beauties 
of nature, or something which may serve as a substitute, when 
they are covered with the gloom of night or buried in the tem- 
porary death of winter. He may soothe their hours of pain 
and distress, and lighten the daily trials of life, by scattering 
here and there a flower of beauty, in moments when the mind 
is too feeble or too much oppressed to avail itself of higher 
consolations. He may often dissipate or lighten that cloud of 
gloom which is at once the cause and the consequence of 
physical debility, and aid in preserving a friend from sinking 
into bodily exhaustion or mental despair. It is on this prin- 
ciple that -a pupil should be taught to exhibit taste in his dress, 
his habitation, and every thing which surrounds him. He 
should feel himself bound as really to bestow the moments of 
pleasure which this affords to the eye as the more important 
gifts which benevolence dictates — as really (though not as 
greatly) culpable, when he produces unnecessary and un- 
pleasant sensations by his negligence, as when he had produced 
a greater and more serious pain. 



302 APPENDIX. 

LETTER XXIV. 

METHOD OF CULTIVATING IMAGINATION AND TASTE. — OBSERV- 
ATION OF NATURE. OBJECTS OF ART, DESCRIPTION. WORKS 

OF IMAGINATION. RHETORIC. SCENERY OF SWITZERLAND. 

BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS OF HOFWYL. DESIGN AND 

MUSIC. CONCERTS. GYMNASTIC EXERCISES. — DECLAMA- 
TION. 

My dear Friend, — The methods I have described to you by 
which the faculties of perception, attention, and memory are 
exercised, serve at the same time to produce an accuracy and 
vividness in the impressions of objects on the mind which is 
highly favourable to the development of the imagination': they 
also serve to store it with materials on which it may operate, 
when the productive period of this faculty arrives. It is, in 
truth, the vividness and minuteness of conception, and the com- 
mand of a variety of objects which can be brought as illustra- 
tions or ornaments of a given subject, that forms an important 
part of poetic genius. It is a corresponding exhibition which 
gives such beauty and interest to our best works of imagin- 
ation. 

Nature itself, thus studied and observed, especially in the 
majestic and beautiful forms it presents in Switzerland, is un- 
doubtedly the best means of cultivating the imagination. It is 
the source from which those whom all acknowledge as masters 
in this department of literature derived their conceptions and 
their means of influence. The pupil is required to exercise his 
poAvers in the same manner in observing all the objects that he 
sees, and in endeavouring to present to others a faithful picture 
of them. He must be taught that this can never be done 
without presenting them in such a manner as to excite in others 
the same sensations they have produced in himself. 

But the study of the masterpieces of the ancient poets, of the 
fabulous and heroic periods of history, and of some of the best 
works of imagination, tends still further to develop this faculty ; 
and, where the circumstances and talents of the pupil permit it, 
this should be carried as far as is consistent with the cultivation 
of other powers. In the later periods of education, the French 
and German poets are studied with direct reference to this 
object. 

A system of rhetoric should, in the view of Fellenberg, form 
the conclusion instead of the commencement of this course ; but 



APPENDIX. 303 

it is too often omitted, because the parents will not wait for the 
fruit to ripen, and often scarcely for the bud to expand fully, 
before they pluck it. 

It is obvious that the same methods which are used to de- 
velop the imagination, serve at the same time to cultivate the. f 
taste. Care is taken to make the best use of the natural scenery \ 
of Hofwyl and of Switzerland for this purpose ; and the pupils [ 
are taught to observe and describe them in this view. Their j 
annual journeys are arranged in such a manner as to produce aif 
gradual development of this faculty in reference to nature : 
the} 7 commence with short excursions in the neighbourhood ; 
next succeed longer journeys — to the Jura, to the Black Forest, 
and to the Inferior Alps ; and the series is usually closed -with a 
survey of the sublime and beautiful scenery presented in a tour 
to Mont Blanc and the northern part of Italy. 

With the same view, in the observation of nature required by 
the study of natural history, the attention should also be directed 
to the relations of forms and colours on which beauty depends. 

Fellenberg deems it of equal importance, when circumstances 
permit, that the artificial objects surrounding the pupil should) 
be such as to give a proper direction to his taste. The arrange-! 
ments and decorations of the buildings, grounds, and apart- 
ments are intended to inspire a just taste on this subject. In 
addition to this, some of the masterpieces of statuary are placed 
in view of the pupils, and the school of design is furnished with 
a great number of casts from the antique. The study of drawing 
is carried as far as the talents and circumstances of the pupil 
permit. 

With regard to design and music, Fellenberg observes : " In 
reference to the early formation of the pupil on these points 
(as in all that we undertake), we should rather aim at the 
cultivation of his character than at that skill in the art, which 
seems generally the only object : we should seek, as the most 
valuable result of our efforts in the sphere of the arts, that un- 
wearied perseverance, that patient industry, that contempt of 
everything superficial and pretended, which a suitable course 
of instruction in these branches is calculated to inspire ; and 
when the elementary-stages are passed, a freer and bolder spirit in 
conceiving and executing the oi'iginal conceptions of the mind. 

" The youth whose talents and circumstances permit it, should 

. be so trained, that when he is completely formed, it should not 

be more difficult to exhibit a well-defined moral character in the 



304- APPENDIX. 

lines of a portrait than to describe it in words. Experience has 
already proved the possibility of this with some in our Institution ; 
and it would certainly occur more frequently if the hand of 
the youth were suitably prepared by long elementary practice 
to obey the dictates of a well-trained imagination. 

" As a means of forming the ear for music, and of aiding the 
choir of vocal performers, as well as of exciting additional in- 
terest in the pupils, a considerable band of instrumental music 
is maintained, composed of the professor's pupils, and a select 
number of persons of the school of the poor, who are trained for 
this purpose in their leisure hours. This furnishes the means 
of holding occasional concerts, combining vocal and instru- 
mental music, for the amusement as well as the instruction of 
the pupils, in which the daughters of Fellenberg assist. To 
these, none but the inhabitants of Hofwyl, and occasionally a 
few friends of the family, are invited. 

" The gymnastic exercises, in all their forms, are a powerful 
aid to the practice of design, in cultivating the taste for the 
beauty of form or motion. Their effect in this respect is very 
obvious ; and the occasional festivals which are accompanied by 
gymnastic games present examples of a high degree of cultiva- 
tion in this respect. It is a spectacle which charms the eye, and 
exhibits the intimate connection of easy and graceful motion 
with the improvement of physical force and the capacity to 
escape from danger or surmount obstacles." 

" Declamation is also of importance, as uniting gesture and 
tones, the elements of design and music, and applying them as 
means of acting on the minds of our fellow-men. Its object 
should never be lost sight of, and the methods of pursuing it 
should never be mechanical." 



LETTER XXV. 

COURSE OF NATURAL HISTORY AT HOFWYL. 

I cannot present a better illustration of the principles stated 
in the preceding letters, in regard to the method of cultivating 
the powers of perception and memory at Hofwyl, than by the 
following account of the course of natural history, translated 
from a report on this subject, drawn up by the professor : — 



APPENDIX. 305 



Report on the Course of Instruction in Natural History in 
the Institutions of Hofwyl. 

According to the general plan of the Institution at Hofwyl to 
form a connected course of instruction, one of the first objects 
in reference to Natural History, is to connect it -with the other 
branches of study, and as much as possible to render them 
mutual aids to each other. 

It ought to be so conducted as to furnish direct aid to the 
elementary Mathematics, Geography, and the study of the 
mother tongue ; it should be a means of preparation and in- 
troduction to Natural Philosophy and Chemistry ; it should 
furnish indirect aid to studies less connected with it, by the 
spirit it produces ; it should be regular and earnest, and free 
from all trifling, that the pupil may never be sent from it 
thoughtless, and with wandering attention, to other lessons. 

The various divisions of Natural History should also be in- 
timately connected. The three principal branches must indeed 
be taught in distinct lessons ; but all violent separation should 
be avoided as injurious. Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology 
should be taught alterately, and always as much as possible 
with reference to each other, that the power of observation, 
whose cultivation is one great object of this branch of instruction, 
may be developed as completely and variously as possible. 

It is easy to perceive that the influence of these lessons in 
developing the faculties is greatest at an early age, and that 
they should be commenced as soon as is practicable. A boy pos- 
sesses sufficient capacity in his ninth or tenth year to attend to 
the subject ; and it is only necessary that he should understand 
and write with some facility the language which is to be taught. 

It is desirable that the teacher to whom the preparatory ele- 
mentary course of instruction is entrusted should accustom his 
pupils, in their occasional walks, to observe and describe the 
various forms which present themselves, — the colour, trans- 
parency, brilliancy, and weight of objects, — the root, stem, 
branches, leaves, and flowers of plants, and the exterior part of 
animals. The names of fruit and forest trees, garden vegetables, 
domestic animals, &c. may be daily and easily taught : those 
of minerals should be deferred. But the learning of too exten- 
sive a nomenclature is to be carefully avoided, both before and 
during the course of instruction, lest the boy should acquire the 



306 APPENDIX. 

very natural idea, in such a course, that the learning of names 
is the principal object. 

A single glance at nature will indicate at once with what 
branch of Natural History we ought to begin ; and it is scarcely 
necessary to add, that collections of natural objects, more or 
less extensive, are essential to this course of instruction. The 
knowledge of unorganized nature is the basis of our knowledge 
of organized bodies, and presents us, in their unanimated state, 
the elements which are subsequently presented in incessant 
motion and action. Hence we are obliged to commence with 
Mineralogy and its general principles, and some of its details 
must be completed before we pass to Botany. The distinctive 
qualities of minerals are also the most simple ; the forms are 
more distinct and well defined, and less numerous, and children 
of moderate powers of observation are capable of comprehending 
them. 

In addition to this, Mineralogy is particularly advisable, as 
the first course, because it is immediately connected with the 
elements of form and of Geometry, and thus serves as a con- 
tinuation and illustration of contemporaneous studies. Botany 
follows Mineralogy, and Zoology should close the course. 

The whole course of instruction may be finished in four years, 
if uninterrupted. In the first year, when the elements of Geo- 
graphy should be united with Natural History, four or five 
lessons in the week are sufficient ; in the second and third year, 
three ; and in the fourth, at least two should be allowed for this 
branch of study. It would be better, where practicable, to begin 
the course in the autumn, as this is the time most suitable for 
Mineralogy. By dividing the whole course into eight divisions 
of half a year each, the summer should be occupied with Botany. 

First division — Mineralogy. The first division is occupied 
with the external character of minerals. The pupils are called 
upon to discover all that sight, feeling, smell, taste, and hearing 
can perceive in the particular specimens presented to them at a 
lesson, and thus learn to distinguish the colour, transparency, 
brilliancy, form, fracture, gravity, smell, taste, and sound. The 
greatest simplicity should be observed, and everything avoided 
which may surpass the power of observation of the child. 

What they learn with specimens in the chamber, they should 
repeat with descriptions or inquiries concerning stones they dis- 
cover under the direction of the teacher. 

In the course of three months, the description of individual 



APPENDIX. 307 

earthy minerals, and particularly of those found in the neighbour- 
hood of Hofwyl, should be commenced. Specimens should be 
presented for description in the lessons ; great attention should 
be paid to the orthography of the names, and to clearness and 
readiness of expression, and the pupils should be required to 
bring the description in writing at a succeeding lesson. Once 
a week there should be a repetition of what has been done, and 
a comparison of the objects described with one another. 

Second course — Botany. The second division'of the course 
should be devoted to a similar introduction to Botany. The ob- 
servation and description of the root, stem, foliage, flowers, and 
fruit should be accompanied by a description of the distinctive 
marks of each. In treating of the form of these parts, especially 
of the leaves, there should be as frequent reference as possible 
to the combination of forms exhibited in the Mathematics. 
When the pupils have attained some facility in distinguishing 
the different portions of plants, they should be required to 
describe these portions, and also some plants of the simplest 
construction. The plants should only be examined during the 
lessons, and the descriptions written afterwards, and corrected 
in a subsequent lesson by the teacher, in reference both to ac- 
curacy and language. Both these courses may be reviewed by 
means of questions. 

Third course — Mineralogy. The third division of the course 
may be occupied with the continuation of the description of in- 
dividual minerals. "When the pupils are familiar with the earthy 
minerals with which they began, they should endeavour to 
arrange all they nave described in particular groups. 

No system should be introduced at first. The teachers should 
afford the pupils no assistance, but leave them to judge, in per- 
fect freedom, in order to bring their powers of combination into 
action, and discover how far the previous instructions have 
developed it. 

After a sufficient trial of this kind they will be glad to receive 
aid. They should then be taught the system of arrangement 
applied to the earthy minerals, and some experiments should be 
exhibited for illustration. The elementary earths, and the cir- 
cumstances in which they are presented on the surface of the 
globe, should be described. By means of questions, observations, 
and exercises, the pupil should then learn to distinguish the 
predominant earth in soils and stones, according to the cha- 
racteristics they have learned. 



308 APPENDIX, 

The regular or crystalline forms of minerals should next be 
described. The preparation which .the mathematical know- 
ledge of the pupil may give him for this branch of the subject 
should here be carefully attended to. Only the fundamental 
forms should be introduced at first, as the table, cube, prism, 
cylinder, pyramid, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. They should 
be presented to the eye by wooden models, as well as by natural 
specimens, and the pupils should be exercised in distinguishing 
them. 

The internal character of minerals may next be taught. The 
occurrences of common life, with suitable experiments in addi- 
tion, will teach them the appearances and changes produced by 
exposing them to different degrees of action of fluids, air, and 
heat. What relates to electricity, galvanism, and magnetism 
should be carefully adapted to the powers of comprehension of 
the pupil. 

This course should close with the description and explanation 
of saline minerals, because the previous lessons will here be con- 
tinually and appropriately repeated and brought into exercise. 

All written exercises should be performed in private, and the 
corrections and remarks only made in the lesson. The walks of 
the pupils will afford sufficient occasions for the repetition of 
these lessons. 

Fourth division — Botany. The fourth division is a continu- 
ation of the second, on the subject of Botany. 

The teacher should now present to the pupils plants of a more 
compound structure, such as the Orchidese, Labiatae, Amentaceae, 
Chicoraceae, &c. The analysis of plants, accompanied by con- 
tinual and varied comparisons, should be made in the lessons, 
and the descriptions written in private. 

In their excursions, the pupils should observe as often as 
possible the period of budding, flower, and fruit ; the relative 
situation of plants as to the elevation, surface, and nature of the 
soil ; the relation of plants to each other, i. e. whether tbey 
grow singly, or cover the whole surface ; and the relation of 
plants to the animal world, i. e. what plants are most eaten 
by snails and insects, what serve for the support of larger ani- 
mals, &c. 

The materials for exercises on these subjects should be pre- 
sented in the lessons, and arranged and committed to writing by 
the boys. At the end of the course, the whole should be re- 
peated. 



APPENDIX. 309 

Fifth division — Mineralogy. The fifth division, in continu- 
ation of mineralogy, should be commenced by a brief recapi- 
tulation of the third course. The pupil is here led on to 
the observation and description of combustible minerals and 
metals. 

Only the metals which the child finds in common life, or 
■which can be shown to him, should be examined and described. 
Each should first be exhibited in its pure state, and then, as far 
as the collection permits, in its compound mineral forms. The 
most necessary information concerning their occurrence and 
geographical position should also be given. 

A system of mineralogy is only so far introduced, that the 
pupils arrange the minerals they learn in individual families. 
The teacher never directs the pupils, but only reviews what they 
have done, corrects it, and points out generally the method of 
classification. Geology is introduced as a conclusion of the 
course. The principal formations are first described according 
to the specimens found in the neighbourhood of Hofwyl and in 
the cabinet. The pupils then attempt a classification, after 
which the teacher directs them to the arrangement of rocks, 
under the primitive, transition, secondary, alluvial, and volcanic 
classes, and explains their division and extent by drawings and 
maps. 

In order that the pupils may understand the strata, succession 
and relation of mountain masses, and the occurrence of par- 
ticular minerals, they should be conducted to some neighbouring 
mountains. They should at the same time be taught to observe 
the respective genera of plants and animals found in different 
mountains. 

After repeated oral repetitions, the pupils should prepare a 
geological map of the environs, as an exercise and evidence of 
the knowledge they have acquired. 

It is obvious that this course should be intimately connected 
with geographical instruction. 

Sixth course — Botany. The sixth division consists of an 
arrangement of the plants hitherto described in large and small 
groups. 

The pupils choose any genus of plants, examine it thoroughly, 
and note the species which seem to them to have similar quali- 
ties. This collection is again examined and they endeavour to 
discover general characteristics by which they may be enabled 
to form a larger group. In these exercises they come by degrees 



310 APPENDIX. 

to the conception of species, genus, and family, -which the teacher 
then fully explains. 

When the plants of the environs are thus arranged in natural 
families, some of their characteristics in reference to botany 
should be sketched, and with these, their economical character- 
istics and uses. They should be led to observe, for example, 
whether a particular family produces throughout articles of 
food, colouring matter, fat or essential oil, poison, &c, and what 
relation one family or another bears to the life of men and 
animals. 

The geographical distribution of plants may very properly 
be connected with this ; and the most remarkable exotic families, 
and the most interesting species, should then be briefly de- 
scribed and illustrated, by means of living plants or by distinct 
drawings. 

When the families have been examined, they should also be 
arranged in natural classes by the pupils, and the teacher 
should finally give a brief sketch of the systems of Jussieu 
and Linnaeus : in excursions, the systematic discrimination of 
plants, and the use and arrangement of flora and herbaria, should 
be shown. 

As a conclusion of this part of the course, the interior struc- 
ture of the plants should be exhibited by means of the micro- 
scope, and the pupils should write exercises upon this as upon 
every other part of the course. Frequent occasions will here 
be presented to bring into view the subjects previously con- 
sidered. 

During the preceding divisions of the course, the power of 
observation (or intuition) of the pupils is of course greatly de- 
veloped, and incessant observation should still be made in order 
to develop it still farther. But in the two remaining divisions, 
the power of reflection should be more called into exercise. 
The pupils should be trained to greater regularity of thought, 
by a close and more systematic method of instruction and an 
uninterrupted comparison and arrangement of subjects. 

Zoology is best adapted to accomplish this object, and there- 
fore occupies the remainder of the course of instruction. 

Seventh course — Zoology. In the seventh course, the parts 
of animals should be taught as the introduction to the course of 
Zoology. 

An important animal of complete organisation (of the mam- 
malia) should be taken as a model. The pupils should first 



APPENDIX. 311 

learn the exterior parts, then the interior in general. For this 
purpose the teacher should show them first a skeleton, and then 
an animal very simply dissected. The pupils should write their 
observations in private. 

The particular study of Zoology. — This commences with the 
class of Infusoria. Portions of animals and vegetables are left 
to putrefy in water, in order that the pupils may learn the origin 
of these animals, and observe various species. They should 
also be led to observe the species which are to be found in the 
neighbouring waters. 

From these observations the pupils should endeavour to dis- 
cover some general characteristics of this class of animals. The 
teacher corrects these remarks, and subsequently presents them 
in connection, together with the necessary explanations. These 
should be written down by the pupils, together with their ob- 
servations upon animals of this class. 

Then follows the class of Corallines. The residence of these 
animals which are found in the collection should be exhibited, 
and the structure of the animal explained by means of plates. 
After sufficient explanation, the characteristics of this class 
should be sketched by the pupils, corrected, explained, and sys- 
tematically arranged by the teacher, and then committed to 
writing by the pupils in private. 

In the same manner the class of Zoophytes and Medusae should 
be described. 

Then follow muscles and shells. The habits and modes of 
life of these animals should be observed by the pupils, among 
such as they can find in their walks. The interior structure 
shoidd be explained, by the dissection of an ordinary muscle, a 
naked snail, and a shell snail. The most remarkable shells of 
such shell-fish as reside in the sea should be exhibited from the 
collection. The remaining methods are similar to those pur- 
sued with the preceding classes ; and are the same in all that 
follow. 

The reptiles and insects are next in order. Their exterior 
and interior construction should be illustrated by dissection. 
If the pupils have not made sufficient observations upon the 
habits, and especially the transformation of these animals, the 
defect should be supplied by direct instruction, in order to avoid 
too great diffuseness and loss of time by keeping some of the 
living animals in the chamber. At the close of this course, there 
should be a repetition of the whole. 



312 APPENDIX. 

It will be understood that the teacher should avail himself of 
the frequent occasions presented during the course for refer- 
ence and recollection of the mineral and vegetable kingdoms ; 
that he should never neglect to lead his pupils to the various 
important points of comparison ; and that he should never lose 
sight of the importance of connecting and supporting his own 
course of instruction by means of other subjects of study. 

Eighth course. The eighth course begins with a thorough 
recapitulation of what has been observed concerning the general 
interior organisation of animals, and especially concerning the 
construction of the skeleton. 

Next follows the order of fishes. By the examination of a 
few living specimens, and the dissection of a large fish, the ex- 
terior and interior parts should be fully exhibited and explained. 
In the observation and description of the classes of animals, the 
native animals of course demand most attention. But those of 
foreign countries should also be touched upon and explained by 
means of drawings. The same remark should also be attended 
to with regard to all classes ; and every occasion should be em- 
braced for showing the pupils collections of foreign animals. 

After the fishes come the amphibious animals. The teacher 
should provide occasions for the pupils to observe the develop- 
ment of frogs and lizards, and their successive and gradual 
formation. 

Some poisonous serpents, native and foreign, ought also to be 
dissected. The shell of a tortoise should be made the subject of 
careful examination. 

The birds and mammalia should follow the amphibious ani- 
mals. It is easy to comprehend what is to be selected from 
these classes for the consideration of the pupils ; and the man- 
ner of exhibition should resemble that of the preceding subjects. 

In conclusion, all the classes should be reviewed and com- 
pared, especially in reference to their gradation and development, 
their geographical extension, their influence on each other and 
on the life of men, &c. 

Frequent reference to the other kingdoms of nature are essen- 
tial in this course. 

General remarks. 1. In their excursions, the pupils are to be 
treated as if they were in a lesson. They must consider them 
not as parties of pleasure, but as necessary and important means 
of instruction. The teacher should never allow them to run 
about in all directions, but should keep them together, lead and 



APPENDIX. 313 

regulate their observations, and prevent all distraction of their 
attention. He should never allow them to destroy, or even to 
injure a production of nature/without an important reason : he 
should never allow them to destroy an animal, even during the 
course of zoology. He should show them how they may examine 
the living animal with the least pain to it ; and if it be necessary 
to kill it, he should take it with him alive, and kill it in their 
absence. 

2. The collection of natural productions should not be abso- 
lutely prevented ; nor yet unconditionally recommended. The 
collection of minerals during their excursions may be permitted ; 
as they require no preparation, and cause little loss of time. 

In reference to plants, no one should collect or prepare any 
which have not been thoroughly examined and described during 
the course of instruction, and whose names he does not know. 
No time should be occupied with these objects, or with their 
preparation, except such as is generally left at the disposal of 
the pupils. 

The preparation should also be made in a manner adapted 
to cultivate and gratify the taste, as well as to secure the objects 
of science. 

A collection of dried plants should be provided for the illus- 
trations of the lessons. Animals should not in any case be col- 
lected or prepared by the pupil. 

If a pupil finds a plant or animal in his excursions, concerning 
which he wishes for instruction from his teacher, he may be 
allowed to carry it home with him ; but plants must be kept 
fresh and in good order, and animals, living and uninjured. 

3. If the pupils undertake a journey in which the teacher 
eannot accompany them, he describes to them in general what 
they will see on the way, and gives them directions concerning 
the objects to which their attention should be particularly di- 
rected in reference to their progress in science. He should also 
require of every one to make report of the observations he has 
made on the journey. 

4. Every pupil should keep a memorandum-book during the 
course of instruction, in which he should insert all the remarks 
he has made upon his lessons, and the excursions connected with 
them, in brief terms. The teacher examines these books from 
time to time, and converses with the pupils on the' subject. 

5. During the course of instruction the pupils should not be 
permitted to read works on natural history, because in many 

p 



314 APPENDIX. 

cases they -will easily form incorrect ideas, and they are likely to 
become careless about personal observations, and inattentive to 
lessons. At the same time, the subject is not generally presented 
in the manner which is best, or with the proper care in selection, 
and the advantages to be secured by a well selected and ar- 
ranged course are entirely lost. 

LETTER XXVI. 

INFLUENCE OF AGRICULTURE IN EDUCATION. INFLUENCE ON 

THE BODY. EFFECTS OF A CITY EDUCATION ON THE MIND 

AND ON THE MORAL SENTIMENTS. OF AN AGRICULTURAL 

EDUCATION. SPECIAL IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURAL EDU- 
CATION TO THE POOR IN REFERENCE TO HEALTH, TO INTEL- 
LECTUAL AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT. 

Principles and Arrangements of the Agricultural or Rural School 
for the Poor. 

My dear Friend, — In seeking to combine physical and intel- 
lectual education, Fellenberg became persuaded that no employ- 
ment was so conducive to the harmonious development of our 
powers as agriculture. 

The remark is familiar to all, that the pure air, the influence 
of vegetable life, the regular habits and salutary exercise con- 
nected with a country life, produce a vigour of constitution, an 
energy of character, in an agricultural population, which is not 
found in the mass of those who are educated in the confined and 
corrupt atmosphere of a city. These are sufficient grounds, in 
his view, for deciding that the city ought not to be selected as the 
seat of an institution for early education, and that agricultural 
employments are far preferable to mechanical, as means of phy- 
sical education. Indeed these points are so generally conceded, 
that it seems only necessary to state them ; and if poets have 
sometimes painted the enjoyments of a country life in brilliant 
colours, philosophers will generally admit that they have not 
estimated its beneficial influences too highly. 

But Fellenberg is also persuaded that an agricultural life is 
most favourable to a sound and healthy development of the 
mind. That the intellectual development of the citizen is most 
rapid, is beyond all doubt ; but precocity, either in the natural 
or the intellectual world, is no evidence of superior vigour ; and 
it is often obtained at the expense of the physical power and 



APPENDIX. 315 

the moral purity. Fellenberg believes that it is generally too 
rapid to be solid ; that, from the very nature of the case, it must 
in a large number of instances be partial and imperfect. 

The child educated in a city acquires the habit of talking 
upon all subjects, without always understanding them ; and 
gains attention and praise by employing the words and phrases 
he has heard from others, before he has acquired the ideas the} r 
express. He sees objects, and witnesses events perpetually, 
which his age does not enable him to comprehend, or which 
those around him have not time or capacity fully to explain. 
He learns, in this manner, to content himself with superficial 
knowledge — to see, to hear, and to speak, without fully under- 
standing the subject before him. Nothing is more prejudicial to 
intellectual vigour, nothing so certain to make him think su- 
perficially, and to act mechanically in accordance with the views 
and habits of those around him. 

In addition to this, he is in a great measure shut out, by his 
circumstances or habits, from those objects of nature in which 
the Creator's power is exhibited. He is continually surrounded 
with the productions of human skill, with the art and science 
which are at once the work of man and the sceptre of his power, 
and with which he seems to hold all things under his command. 
It is these which supply his wants, which provide his pleasures : 
it is on men that his happiness or misery chiefly depends ; 
it is on them that his hopes and fears are chiefly fixed ; and it 
is with men only that he seems to be in relation. The daily 
supplies of food and clothing come to him as the production of 
human labour and skill; and if they fail, he discerns no cause 
but in his fellow-men. Hence the importance, the power of 
man, are the objects continually presented to his view ; while 
scarcely any thing in his daily life calls his attention directly to 
the works or the providence of the Author of all, and to his de- 
pendence on Him. On the other hand, when surrounded and 
occupied with the objects of nature, he perceives continually 
such luxuriant richness, such varying and inimitable beauty, 
such immense operations, as put to shame all the efforts of man, 
as surpass even his powers of comprehension ; and when he 
reaches the age of reflection, human weakness is placed in the 
strongest contrast with infinite and unsearchable power. In an 
agricultural life he almost necessarily perceives his immediate 
dependence on some higher cause, which prospers or blasts the 
fruits of his labours, with a power beyond his foresight or con- 
P 2 



316 APPENDIX. 

trol, and with the aid of revelation" he is more likely to feel that 
dependence. Every object -with which he is conversant is fitted 
to lead his mind towards God, instead of towards man, if a proper 
direction is given to it. Here, then, is to be found the best 
school for inculcating the lessons of humility and piety which 
the Scriptures present, aside from all other considerations. But 
when we reflect on the comparative purity of the sphere of ob- 
servation around him, the difference is immense. The collections 
of men drawn together by industry and commerce, in our cities, 
usually attract the worst materials of the country. The increase 
of population, the necessity and facility of promiscuous inter- 
course, lead to the rapid development of vices which cannot be 
concealed from view, and which cannot but leave upon the 
tender mind the most indelible and dangerous impressions. 

All these arguments apply with double force where the edu- 
cation or reformation of the poor is proposed. To them espe- 
cially health and strength of body are of prime importance. 
One of the most important means of preserving them from the 
temptation which necessity presents, or which vice may offer, is 
to give them a degree of vigour which shall enable them to en- 
dure the necessary toils and vicissitudes of a life of labour with- 
out sinking, and which shall give them confidence in their own 
power of gaining an honest livelihood. There are few countries 
where a greater number of -agricultural labourers might not be 
usefully employed in cultivating neglected ground, or in in- 
creasing the produce of that already cultivated : but if youth 
are destined to sedentary employments, or to those which demand 
confinement in manufactories or large cities, they have even 
more need of a sound constitution, and it is more desirable that 
they should lead an agricultural life until the development of 
the body is complete. If the greater part of their life must be 
passed in the close unhealthy air of the manufactory or the work- 
shop — above all, in those of deleterious arts, or in the confined, 
prison-like dwellings of the poor in large cities — it is of far 
greater importance to them, to their employers, and to the 
country which their labours should benefit, to pass their youth 
in such a manner as to give their constitution all the vigour of 
which it is capable. To place them in these circumstances while 
the organs and limbs are developing themselves, is to render 
them imperfect beings for life. 

In an intellectual and moral point of view, also, these remarks 
are of greater importance as applied to the poor. They have 



APPENDIX. 317 

none of those means of elevating their conceptions above the 
spinning-machine or the -work-bench, which journeys, visits, 
extended intercourse with well-taught men, and reading furnish 
to the wealthy ; and they are doubly exposed to the torrents of 
corruption which flow through the streets, and to the exhalations 
of vice which arise from crowded shops and manufactories, or 
the still more infectious atmosphere of those wretched habitations 
into which so many of the labouring classes are thrust together, 
and where they learn to regard vice as the only mode of ob- 
taining even temporary enjoyment. How evident is it, that a mere 
change of residence from the city to the country, in many 
cases of this kind, would remove half of the sources of temptation 
and crime. 

LETTER XXVII. 

DIFFERENT VTEWS OF AGRICULTURE. — INFLUENCE OF AGRICUL- 
TURAL LIFE AT HOFWYL ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND. 
ITS REFERENCE TO GEOMETRY, ARITHMETIC, NATURAL PHI- 
LOSOPHY, NATURAL HISTORY, TO MORAL CULTIVATION. — IN- 
FLUENCE OF THE IMPROVED SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE ON THE 
MIND, ON THE HABITS. 

My dear Friend, — In addition to the indirect influence of an 
agricultural life upon the mind, to which I referred in a pre- 
ceding letter, Agriculture, as it is pursued at Hofwyl, and as it 
may be pursued in any institution, furnishes many means for 
direct intellectual instruction and moral improvement. 

Agriculture may be considered as a handicraft, an art, or a 
science. 

As a handicraft it contributes to the health and vigour of 
body, by giving active employment in the open air, where it is 
in its purest state. 

It should be known also as an art, and its principal rules 
should be communicated to all ; for he who labours only me- 
chanically often commits serious errors. Pursued in this manner, 
as it is at Hofwyl, it tends to cultivate the spirit of observation 
and of systematic effort, to exercise the judgment, and to produce 
habits of foresight and prudence. The science of agriculture can 
generally be pursued only by those who are relieved from the 
necessity of day-labour, and is therefore taught at Hofwyl only 
to those who are expected to be proprietors or overseers. 

But the employment itself, as pursued at Hofwyl, leads to the 
acquisition and practice of important branches of knowledge. 
P 3 



318 APPENDIX. 

In laying out the ground for different crops, for planting, or for 
spreading manure, care is taken in determining the points, in 
drawing the lines parallel, in measuring the distances and the 
intervals of the plants with the eye or by paces. The number of 
plants, or heaps of manure, is calculated, and the whole is a lesson 
in geometry and arithmetic, as well as an exercise of accuracy 
and foresight. 

In cutting the trenches for watering an artificial meadow, the 
level of different portions is observed by some ; others trace the 
lines in such a manner that the water shall perform the circuitous 
route necessary to supply the whole of a given space without 
descending below its level ; and others still, place the sluices 
necessary to prevent excess in one part, or deficiency in another. 
All these operations are practical lessons upon the laws of gra- 
vitation, and are often employed to lead the pupils in the most 
striking manner to the existence and influence of this universal 
agent. If the pupils are engaged gathering the stones out of the 
fields these become the subjects of examination, first in reference 
to their colour, hardness, and texture, then the uses to which 
they are respectively applicable, and finally, their name, either in 
the moments of rest or in some of the lessons of the day. The 
instructions thus received are recalled, almost involuntarily, at 
every fresh operation of the same sort ; and such associations 
serve to divest this lowest of agricultural occupations of its 
purely mechanical character : the pupil is thus constantly led 
to seek for new subjects of observation, and to consider how 
those he sees may be best employed. 

If they are clearing the ground of weeds, the name, character- 
istics, and qualities of each one are made the subject of remark. 
The relative effect of sun, and air, and moisture, and cultivation, 
upon these plants, and those of a useful nature, is necessarily 
brought to view by the observation of the pupil, and by the in- 
structions given him ; and inferences are then drawn as to the 
best mode of exterminating them. The passage is very easy to 
the operation and importance of those general laws which pro- 
duce weeds in the midst of the harvest, and to the design of 
Providence in subjecting all to the same laws, as a means of 
calling into action the intellectual and physical powers of man. 

The difficulties, the disappointments, the losses which are 
encountered from events beyond the control of man, serve, in 
the hands of the Christian teacher, as so many lessons of submis. 
sion to the will of Him who orders them, and of patience and 
courage in endeavouring to surmount or repair them. 



APPENDIX. 319 

The labour necessary for the acquisition and preservation of 
property, serve to show them its value, and to inspire a respect 
for that of others. This feeling is more strongly impressed hy 
the arrangement at Hofwyl, which gives to every one his garden, 
a tree and its fruits, the produce of his gleanings, and his own 
tools. A part of what they are capable of earning is put aside 
also, as a fund in case of necessity. 

A well regulated system of agriculture, where every in- 
dividual has a certain occupation, where every duty has its 
place assigned, and every moment a duty, produces habits of 
regularity and industry which are of inestimable value, not only 
in securing the worldly prosperity of those who are subjected to 
their discipline, but in excluding the opportunities and the 
inducements to evil. 

The improved instruments and methods of cultivation at 
Hofwyl also furnish continual and important lessons : they 
inspire the taste for performing everything they do in the best 
manner, and do not permit the pupil to acquire imperfect or 
slovenly habits of labour. 

The admirable system of a rotation of crops, which is pur- 
sued, furnishes valuable lessons of foresight and prudence, and 
a striking evidence of the power which system and skill place 
in the hands of man. Order and constant industry are indis- 
pensable to gather and secure their regular returns. Equal 
regularity of arrangements is required in preparing for them by 
a connected series of calculation, extending through several 
years. The pupil learns the method of exposing the soil of his 
little garden spot during the winter in such a manner that it 
must derive the greatest quantity of nutriment from the air ; 
he is taught the mode of destroying noxious weeds and animals, 
and of increasing or preserving the fruits of his labours. He 
is thus encouraged to act, by discovering the power with which 
Providence has invested him over the earth. All these im- 
provements also serve an important purpose, in showing the 
difference between the man who is a mere slave to the soil, and 
him whose foresight enables him to subdue it — to change its 
character and productions, and to render it subservient to his 
purposes : they are, in short, so many lessons on the superiority 
of mind over matter, which may be applied with happy effect. 

The care with which the whole series of measures in an 
improved system is devised and executed, is used as a lesson to 
impress upon the heart the importance of neglecting no means 
P 4 



320 APPENDIX. 

by which the labours of men and animals may be diminished, 
and the fruits of the ground which are necessary for their sub- 
sistence increased. 

The accuracy with which the amount and the results of 
labour are measured and recorded at Hofwyl, has not less 
influence on the habits of the pupils. Every portion of land is 
measured, the amount of the seed and that of the products com- 
pared, and the expenses rigidly placed in the balance with the 
proceeds. An account is opened, in the same manner, with every 
individual, with every animal, and with the manure carried out, 
and the weight of the crops brought in ; and thus the necessity 
of constant and accurate observation is imposed upon every 
individual, and the habit is formed of estimating the results of 
all their efforts. It will not escape you, that in all these me- 
thods the surest foundation is laid for that self-instruction and 
self-education, as we call them, for want of a better term, without 
which the acquisitions of early years are lost in the cares and 
labours of life. You will perceive also that I consider other 
influences as mere aids to the indispensable lessons of Reve- 
lation. 

LETTER XXVIIL 

DAILY COURSE IN THE RURAL SCHOOL. 

The agricultural population of every country forms the mass 
of the nation ; it embraces most of its physical strength ; and, 
if well educated, it is usually the most virtuous, the most sub- 
stantial part of the community. Their moral and intellectual 
improvement, comprising that of day labourers, is therefore an 
object of the highest importance ; and this was the prominent 
object of Fellenberg in the establishment of his institutions. 
It is not accomplished, in his opinion, by raising them above 
their employment, or by inspiring a taste for other occupations, 
which will render this irksome. It is by inspiring attachment 
to the ground they cultivate, by leading them to find happiness 
in this employment of their faculties, and in the result of their 
labours. It is asked how shall this be effected? Fellenberg 
replies, by improving agriculture, by rendering it honourable, 
by elevating its importance in the eyes of those who are called 
to exercise it. This influence must be exerted, not merely on 
proprietors and overseers, in the great schemes and arrange- 
ments of an estate, but on the individual labourers in the minute 
details of daily life. They should be taught, as far as possible, 



APPENDIX. 321 

to find resources for intellectual occupation and enjoyment in 
every process of labour, in every soil they till, in every plant or 
insect they encounter, in every change they observe in the air, 
or the earth, or its productions : they must especially be led to 
recognise throughout the hand of the Deity ; to acknowledge 
his blessings, to bow to his chastisements, and to feel their de- 
pendence upon Him. The Rural School of Hofwyl is intended 
to accomplish this object, by training children to a life of labour, 
and especially to an agricultural life ; and cultivating their 
intellectual and moral faculties at the same time, that they may 
understand the processes they perform, and appreciate the 
importance of the advantages and the duty of industry, instead 
of engaging in it as an irksome mechanical task. 

Their physical education rests upon the same principles as 
that of those who are destined to literary pursuits ; but ne- 
cessarily requires modifications in reference to their future 
mode of life. The most simple methods of living, and the 
habit of performing for themselves all that the cleanliness and 
the comfort of their rooms for lodging, eating, and instruction 
require, are obviously necessary. At the same time, the whole- 
someness of their food, and the airiness of their apartments, 
and other things necessary to health, are attended to with care. 
The increased exposure to wind and weather which their em- 
ployment requires, not only serves as a better preparation for 
their future life, but secures them from a multitude of little in- 
dispositions, from which the pupils of the more favoured classes 
surfer. They are accustomed to go bareheaded at all seasons of 
the year, and barefooted in the summer ; their beds are of 
straw ; their clothing is as simple as possible, but always kept 
whole. 

Their food (which they assist in preparing) consists, like that 
of the Swiss peasants generally, of soup, vegetables, bread, and 
milk, at every meal : they have meat but once or twice in the 
week, and wine (the wine of the country resembling our cider) 
only at their occasional festivals — at the harvest home, the new 
year, and the birthday of Wehrli. The aspect of health and 
cheerfulness which pervades the school is a sufficient evidence 
that all their physical wants are amply provided for. 

The following sketch will give you some idea of the daily 
routine of the Institution. The pupils are awakened at half- 
past four, or half-past five, according to their ages : half an hour 
is allowed them for washing and making their beds : after a 
P 5 



322 APPENDIX, 

lesson of one hour in summer, or an hour and a half in -winter, 
they attend to devotional exercises, and breakfast. Here the 
task of each division and individual is assigned for the day, by 
their teacher Wehrli. At eleven they return to dinDer, and 
then have a second lesson of an hour and a half ; at five or six, 
according to the season, they have a piece of bread, and a third 
lesson of an Lour and a half ; and at seven they sup. An as- 
sembly is then held for the review of the day, -which is closed 
with devotional exercises, and the younger pupils go to bed. 
The elder again receive instruction, or occupy themselves in 
some useful manner. 

During the winter, when their employments are not suffi- 
ciently active, they pass an hour in the evening in gymnastic 
exercises or active games. During the summer they are 
occupied almost entirely with the labours of the field, propor- 
tioned to their capacity and strength. The youngest are em- 
ployed in gathering stones and weeds from the fields. At this 
season, ten or twelve hours on an average are devoted to labour, 
and three or four to instruction, when circumstances allow it. 
During haying and harvest, instruction is omitted, and the pupils 
have sometimes volunteered to labour seventeen hours daily; 
but this is seldom allowed. During the winter they spend 
seven to nine hours in labour, and receive five or even six hours 
of instruction. The time which is not devoted to the care of 
the cattle, threshing, and other labours of the farm, is employed 
in making baskets, straw mats, in selecting seeds, and in break- 
ing up stones for repairing the roads. As an additional oc- 
cupation, as well as a useful one, all the pupils are taught to sew, 
so far as to mend their own clothes ; but to avoid taking them 
from their work, this task is usually given to the pupils of the 
girls school, under the direction of the housekeeper. 

In addition to this, every pupil has some part of the house- 
hold economy entrusted to him. One person, for example, is 
assigned to keep each of the rooms clean ; another to take 
charge of the tools ; another the slates ; all in order to give the 
habit of responsibility and regularity, as well as to accustom 
them to their occupations. Their tasks are assigned and super- 
intended by three persons, called the household council, and 
are changed eveiy three months, in order to accustom all to 
each branch of duty. Even the children have some little task 
assigned them, that they may imbibe the same spirit and the 
same habits. 

They are also furnished with the opportunities and induce- 



APPENDIX. 323 

ments to voluntary labour on their own account. Each of the 
younger boys has a little garden spot for vegetables, and another 
for flowers, which he cultivates himself in his leisure hours. 
He is allowed no manure but that which he collects from the 
roads, or from the dry leaves of autumn. He disposes of the 
productions as he pleases. If he sells them to the establishment 
they are credited to him, and at the end of the year the money is 
paid to him. He may either employ it, or place it at interest 
in the establishment, even if only a franc. A fruit tree is 
also assigned to every two or three boys, who take care of it, 
and dispose of its fruits in the same manner. The elder pupils 
assist the younger in these occupations. 

Such is a brief outline of the general arrangements of the 
Agricultural School. 

LETTER XXIX. 

INTERNAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL. 

My dear Friend, — The Agricultural or Rural School of 
Hofwyl, of whose daily exercises I gave you some account in 
my last, now contains about eighty pupils. About twenty of 
these pay the estimated cost of their support ; the rest are 
sustained by their labours, with the aid of Fellenberg, 

In the internal arrangement of so large a school, great care is 
taken to provide for the proper division of labour, as the best 
means of giving efficacy to every part of the system. In order 
to relieve those engaged in education from all other cares and 
perplexities, the details and accounts of the farm are attended 
to by an overseer, Wehrli, the able and faithful coadjutor of 
Fellenberg, is devoted exclusively to the superintendence of the 
labours, the studies, and the morals of the pupils. 

In the early periods of the school, when the number of the 
pupils was small, he was in immediate communication with 
every one : all laboured together, and were thus formed under 
his personal care. With the present number of pupils this is 
impossible : were he to attempt this with a few, all the rest 
would be neglected. He therefore acts as superintendent of the 
whole: he spends the day in observing the various divisions 
and classes in their occupations, and operates on his pupils 
chiefly through the medium of his assistants. Scarcely a week 
passes, however, in which he has not a private personal inter- 
view with each pupil ; and in this way he succeeds in preserving 
p 6 



324> APPENDIX. 

their confidence, and inducing them to open their hearts to him. 
To promote unity of action, there is a weekly meeting of all 
engaged in the instruction and superintendence of the school, 
in which they converse upon their duties and difficulties, and 
receive his instructions and advice. 

It is generally supposed that this plan is far inferior to that 
which provides for the direct personal attention of one individual 
to all the pupils ; and, indeed, Fellenberg has found the most 
serious obstacle to his success in the difficulty of finding as- 
sistants who would enter into his views. If they can be found, 
however, the union of several minds co-operating in one object, 
under one head, produces the happiest effects. Wehrli believes- 
that he has more influence at present upon the mass of the 
pupils than when he had thirty boys under his immediate 
charge. He believes that ten to eighteen is the utmost number 
that one person can possibly superintend ; that when it exceeds 
this, he should have fellow-labourers, with whom he should have 
free and constant intercourse, who may partake his cares, and 
joys, and counsels, and execute his plans. He regards the ex- 
ample of Christ, in choosing disciples to serve as the medium of 
communication to others, as demanding the imitation of teachers. 

The various parts of the plan of Hofwyl happily coincide with 
these views. Twenty of the pupils of the Agricultural School 
are destined to be teachers, and the Institution is designed to be 
a seminary for instructors, as well as a school for those devoted 
to labour. Since the singular order of the Bernese government, 
which I have formerly mentioned, that no teacher of the canton 
should visit Hofwyl for the purpose of receiving instruction, on 
pain of losing his place, Fellenberg has received none for this 
purpose who do not also engage with the pupils in their labours. 
This, however, is not considered disadvantageous. On the con- 
trary, both Fellenberg and Wehrli deem it very important for 
all who are to be employed in the instruction of common schools 
to have a thorough acquaintance with the practical labour of a 
farm. As an additional provision for their support, and as an 
invigorating exercise, it will be desirable for them (as indeed it 
probably would be for all literary men) to continue these labours. 
But a practical acquaintance with the life and habits of a majority 
of their pupils is the only means of preparing them fully to enter 
into the views and feelings of those uuder their care, to under- 
stand their wants and their difficulties, and prepare them for 
their duties. It also furnishes many important illustrations and 
topics of remark. It enables them to give much valuable in- 



APPENDIX. 325 

formation of a practical kind in connection with the subjects of 
their studies, and much may be done in this way to extend 
agricultural improvements. It is also an additional means of 
securing the attachment of the teachers to those to whom it is 
desirable their labours should be devoted, and inducing them to 
continue in this employment. So much is this object appreciated 
in some of the seminaries for instructors in Germany, whose 
plan and location do not admit of a farming establishment, that 
a garden and a nursery of fruit-trees are annexed to the seminary 
and regular instruction is given in connection with them. 

The direct preparation of the teachers for their profession is 
of course limited to the hours of study of the other pupils, and 
some additional time taken from the hours of rest. 

It consists, — 1. In a thorough study of the branches to be 
taught, which they acquire in common with the other pupils, 
and on the productive-plan. 2. In a series of lessons designed 
especially for them, in which Wehrli directs them as to the 
method of communicating instruction. 3. In assuming alter- 
nately the place of teachers in this class, under the immediate 
inspection of Wehrli. 4. In acting alternately as instructor 
and monitor to the other pupils, and superintendents of their 
conduct, under the general direction of Wehrli. 5. In the 
daily advice and direction they receive from him in the dis- 
charge of these duties. 6. In witnessing his own methods of 
instruction, as he passes from class to class to observe their 
progress. 7. In the discussions connected with the meeting 
for familiar conversation, which I have already mentioned. 8. 
Those who are qualified for a more extended course of study 
are permitted to attend the lessons of the professors in the 
Literary Institution ; and some are employed in the instruction 
or superintendence of the younger pupils in that school. In- 
deed, Fellenberg has found that those who were trained in the 
Agricultural Institution were among the most valuable and 
faithful educators he could obtain ; and on this account he deems 
an establishment of this kind an important aid to one of a more 
scientific or literary character. It is with the aid of assistants 
thus trained that Wehrli has succeeded in rendering a school, 
often composed of the worst materials, a model of order, and 
industry, and improvement, which has excited the admiration 
of all who have visited it. In order to render the system of 
superintendence as efficient and easy as possible, great care is 
also taken in the arrangement and classification of the pupils. 



326 APPENDIX. 

Each boy is indicated by a number, which serves as the mark 
for his tools, clothes, and books, and renders it easy to refer to 
every individual in the registers, reports, and general orders of 
the Institution. The pupils are divided into classes for labour 
and for study, in their bed-chambers, and on their school 
benches, as much as possible according to their age and ca- 
pacity and their respective characters. Those capable of being 
misled are placed with the better pupils ; those already cor- 
rupted, with such as are in no danger of injury, or such as may 
exert a favourable influence upon them. Each class has an in- 
spector or guardian, who is with them at all times and under all 
circumstances. So far as the case admits, they are always the 
same : they are responsible for the conduct of those committed 
to them, and make report of all that happens. In addition to 
this, the younger pupils have each a special overseer, or elder 
brother, who attends to their physical wants, as well as to their 
moral conduct, and takes care that their clothes and persons are 
in a proper state. 

The pupils are lodged in six bed-chambers : each of these is 
superintended by two overseers, whose duty it is, each in his 
turn, to see that every thing is in order, to accompany the pupils 
from the evening assembly to bed, to remain with them until 
they are asleep, and to be with them until they leave the chamber 
in the morning. Three chambers are assigned in which they 
may remain during their leisure hours, when the weather does 
not permit them to go out. There they occupy themselves as 
they think proper ; and their educators have an opportunity of 
discovering their natural character and inclinations. Each of 
these chambers has two overseers also, with the same view of 
allowing them to alternate their occupations. 

In the school-room the boys are always arranged on their 
benches in the same manner, according to their character, and 
one on each bench has the duty of monitor. 

They go forth to their labour also in divisions, formed on the 
same general principles, which are constantly the same, so far 
as circumstances permit. Each of these is accompanied by its 
leader or guardian. A register is kept by each leader or guardian, 
of the conduct and progress of the pupils under his care, in their 
labours, their studies, and their moral conduct, which is submitted 
to the inspection of Wehrli, and the state of the whole school is 
thus brought regularly before him. 



APPENDIX. 327 

LETTER XXX. 

DISCIPLINE OF THE AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL. 

My dear Friend, — The system of discipline employed in the 
government of the Agricultural School at Hofwyl is as mild 
and simple as possible. Based upon religious principle, it makes 
its appeals to the conscience and the reason, rather than to fear, 
or hope, or shame. The only reward is the happiness which 
naturally results from doing right. " The only praise," says 
Fellenberg, " which we allow our pupils is, the simple expression, 
" that is right." The constant superintendence I have described 
enables the guardian of each pupil to apply the necessary warning 
at the moment when he sees him beginning to go astray. 
Should this be ineffectual, admonition follows. If the fault is 
serious, the evening report brings the subject before Wehrli, 
whose first notice of it is usually private and very mild. A re- 
petition of the offence of course requires a more severe reproof. 
If this fails, privation of supper (a meal whose loss does not 
affect the health), and exclusion from the lessons or assemblies 
of the pupils, or some similar punishment, is tried. Corporal 
punishment is only resorted to after all other means have failed, 
and seldom in more than one or two cases a year. If a boy is in- 
corrigible by means of this kind, he is excluded from the school, 
as being dangerous to others. The Institution has received a 
large number of its pupils from the most abandoned class of 
society — some literally from the highways and hedges, and 
often those who were extremely corrupt : yet the mild methods 
we have mentioned, combined with religious influence, have 
been sufficient, not only to restrain, but to reform them ; and 
only two or three instances have occurred in which it was neces- 
sary to resort to the last act of discipline. 

The retired situation of Hofwyl, and the system of vigilant 
parental superintendence we have described, are important means 
of giving efficacy to this system. But no vigilance, no seclusion, 
can exclude all external evil ; and even the influence of religious 
restraints will often be inadequate, if the mind is left exposed to 
the full influence of passion and appetite. The most effectual 
security, in the view of Fellenberg, against external and internal 
causes of corruption is, constant occupation ; and without this no 
system of discipline can be efficient. " Industry," he observes, 
" is the great moraliser of man." The sentence by which he 
is compelled to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, is the 



328 APPENDIX. 

great means, in the hands of Providence, of preserving him 
from the depths of corruption into which a life of ease would 
infallibly plunge him. The experience of every age and of every 
country furnishes the most ample illustration of this principle ; 
and it is especially important, while the character is yet un- 
formed, and the appetites and passions yet unaccustomed to sub- 
mission and self-denial. 

" The great art of education, therefore," as Fellenberg ob- 
serves, " consists in knowing how to occupy every moment of 
life in well-directed and useful activity of the youthful powers, 
in order that, so far as possible, nothing evil may find room to 
develop itself." It is far easier to exclude evil in this manner 
than to combat it directly ; to prevent than to correct faults. It is 
in many cases the only way of gaining the victory over ourselves, 
as well as our pupils, to direct the thoughts, and to excite the 
interest in regard to a new and different subject. The very 
presence of certain objects, in whatever light we may regard them 
sullies and enfeebles the soul. The minute and forced reflection 
on past offences, with which some persons occupy themselves 
and their pupils, in the hope of exciting deeper penitence or 
more fixed abhorrence, may be a means of rendering them more 
familiar with these objects, instead of withdrawing them from 
their influence. It certainly absorbs time and efforts which 
would be far better spent in ennobling the mind by the con- 
templation of the opposite excellences — in strengthening the 
resolution and habits by the practice of the opposite virtues. 
We should never lose sight of an apostle's maxim and practice — 
" Forgetting the things which are behind, I press forward to 
those which are before." Sometimes, indeed, employments ■ 
which have no direct reference to the danger or faults of the 
pupils are absolutely necessary to draw the attention entirely 
from the habit or propensity in question. Physical labour will 
give that tone and harmony to the system which is necessary to 
resist most effectually the seductions of appetite, to produce the 
habit of self-government and force of resolution. Intellectual 
occupation, of whatever kind, throws other objects of desire into 
the back-ground, elevates the views, and aids the reason in as- 
serting and maintaining its empire. The important place which 
religious instruction and study hold in this series of occupations 
will be too fully understood to need illustration. It must be 
the Alpha and Omaga of every part of education : at the same 
time every principle of human nature must be called to its aid ; 



APPENDIX. 



329 



and it is of importance for this purpose to bring into exercise 
the softer and more refined feelings. There is, in fact, a certain 
class of excellences, and there are certain defects bordering upon 
moral evil, and ultimately leading to it, which cannot be per- 
ceived and understood without that delicacy of feeling which is 
produced by the exercise and cultivation of the taste. Some pro- 
vision for this object is peculiarly necessary for those who are 
not brought into frequent contact with persons of more cultivated 
minds. 

The utility of music and design in this view will be readily 
perceived, and it will not be deemed extraordinary that they 
are made a part of the regular exercises of the labouring pupils. 
The mere fact of being occupied an hour or two in succession 
in a manner which leaves all the violent passions at rest, and 
calls forth only gentle and agreeable emotions, cannot be with- 
out its effect. It not only diminishes the force of the passions, 
thus insensibly soothed into repose, but it furnishes an experi- 
mental evidence of the superior enjoyments of which the soul is 
capable in this state of calmness, and renders it constantly more 
averse to the violence of ungoverned feeling. The same principles 
pervade all the institutions at Hofwyl; and nothing is more 
striking than the incessant round of activity which leaves the. 
mere idler in solitude. 

I ought in this place to mention that a few of the pupils of 
Wehrli are employed in mechanical, in place of agricultural 
labours ; but they are subject to the same regulations with the 
rest in all other respects. 

LETTER XXXI. 

PRINCIPLES TO BE OBSERVED IN FOUNDING A RURAL SCHOOL. 

My dear Friend, — The principles on which the school for 
the poor is established, were — to employ agriculture as the 
means of moral education for the poor, and to make their 
labours the means of defraying the expense of their education. 

To accomplish the education of the poor, with none or the 
least possible expense, they should be occupied from infancy to 
the age of twenty-one. On this plan, the accounts of the school 
of Hofwyl afford the best reason to believe that such an institution 
is capable of sustaining itself in similar circumstances, and that 
the capital expended for the foundation of the establishment 
will ultimately be repaid. Still it is true, that it isdifficult in 



330 APPENDIX. 

most cases to secure so long an apprenticeship, without neg- 
lecting many of those who are most in need of aid. It is also 
true, that the combination of the scientific institution with that 
for the poor, affords a sure and ready market for all the agri- 
cultural products, and at the best prices — an advantage which 
cannot always be enjoyed. On both these accounts, every such 
institution should be undertaken as a work of charity, and with 
the determination to support it, as a means of prosperity to the 
community. It is thus, and thus only, that we can provide 
against the continuance and increase of mendicity, and the vice 
which is its fruitful source. It is thus that we shall save, in re- 
gard to the very individuals in question, the much larger 
sums which society would lose by their vices, or disease, or 
incapacity to support themselves in after life ; besides giving the 
community an additional member, whose skill and industry will 
be applied to promote its welfare, and assist in bearing its 
burdens. To secure the success of such an establishment, the 
expenses should be reduced to the smallest possible sum. At 
Hofwyl, circumstances have not permitted that reduction which 
Fellenberg deems advisable, and which he attempts to attain at 
Meykirch. A more insulated situation, and the application of 
new discoveries in reference to nourishment, would do much 
for this object. 

To accomplish the two great objects, it is obvious that the 
pupil should be employed in such labours as are most pro- 
ductive, at the same time that they are conducive to education. 
The greatest variety should also be introduced, in order that no 
moment in the year which is dedicated to labour may be lost, for 
want of an employment adapted to it. Every species of in- 
dustry should be attempted with this view, and also with the 
view of extending the sphere of their activity and experience. 
This subject is of more importance, as it is conceded that in 
most northern countries one third of the year admits of no 
labours strictly agricultural. The variety of employments is 
also desirable, as giving the occasion to discover that for which 
the pupil is best adapted, and thus ascertain in what manner the 
personal capital bestowed upon him by Providence may be 
turned to the best account. 

At the same time, care should be taken not to diminish the ex- 
penses in a manner which would destroy the great object. It is 
certain that a school which should receive pupils only at the age 
of fourteen or fifteen, would derive more immediate profit from 



APPENDIX. 331 

their labours ; but it is also true, that it would confer far less 
benefit upon them. The period in which the character is sus- 
ceptible of impression would be lost ; the bad habits already 
formed would be difficult, to eradicate. It would be equally difficult 
to form good habits, and the institution would be in danger of 
sinking under its own weight. Such, indeed, was the fact with 
one which was established in the neighbourhood of Zurich. 

It is also true, that the pupil cannot be expected to pay for 
his education by his labours, unless he has early acquired the 
skill and the habits of industry necessary to enable him to em- 
ploy his powers in the best manner for the good of the institu- 
tion. A person thus trained will contribute to the support of 
the establishment more than two who have been neglected in 
early life ; while society will experience a far greater advantage 
in receiving one thoroughly formed man, capable of acting upon 
others, and worthy of entire confidence, than two who are 
likely to be always imperfect and dependent. But with all this 
care and economy, the time which it is important to consecrate 
to repose, especially with those whose bodies are not completely 
formed, is sufficient to give that intellectual and moral education 
which is necessary. The hours thus spent will not be lost : 
the pupil will be proportionally more vigorous, more cheerful, 
more thoughtful in his labours, and therefore more successful ; 
and the acquisitions thus made, are not less necessary than those 
which he gains in labour. " The vigour, the dexterity of the 
hand, are but an animal, a dead force. It is only intelligence 
which can direct them rationally towards an object. It is only 
intelligence, well developed, which can diseover the best object." 
It does not interfere with the rest which the pupil needs. Ab- 
solute idleness is not necessary to refresh the bodies of children: 
It can scarcely exist ; or if it does, it produces that ennui which 
is^more painful than fatigue : it often leads to evil thoughts and 
dangerous conversations. It is enough to change the occu- 
pation. In effect, the pupils look upon study as their relax- 
ation : they engage in it with an interest something like that 
which belongs to the play of other children. Seldom have I 
seen occasion even for a reproof on account of inattention ; 
seldom those sallies of childish versatility so common at school : 
and all this with the most gentle paternal dicipline ; for no 
other is found necessary. In order to ensure the complete suc- 
cess and harmony of this part of the system, it is also of great 
importance that the course of instruction and education should 



332 APPENDIX. 

commence at an early age, and continue until twenty. In this 
case two hours daily are sufficient : if the period is shortened, 
the time must he increased. During the winter, three to four 
hours are devoted to instruction and religious exercises in the 
school of Wehrli. During harvest, the course of instruction 
is often eutirely interrupted. 

LETTER XXXII. 

INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. — ELEMENTS OF FORM, MAGNITUDE, 

AND NUMBER OBSERVATION AND ATTENTION. NATURAL 

HISTORY. MORAL EFFECTS OF THESE PURSUITS. READING 

AND WRITING. DELINEATION. USE OF THE EYE. GEO- 
METRY AND ARITHMETIC. PHYSICAL EDUCATION. GYM- 
NASTIC SPORTS. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. — 

MUSIC. 

My dear Friend, — The great principles of education admit of 
much less variation, according to the rank and circumstances of 
individuals, than is generally supposed : yet, in their application, 
there must of course he some diversity. The intellectual edu- 
cation of the pupils designed for a life of manual labour must 
of course be different from that of the child who is destined to a 
profession. 

The elementary exercises relative to form, magnitude, and 
number are not less necessary to them than to the more fa- 
voured. Indeed this knowledge is called into more frequent 
practical exercise ; as they are constantly called upon to operate 
with matter, to estimate and divide distance, to lay out their 
gardens and fields in suitable farms. The principle of con- 
necting instruction with action is peculiarly important for this 
class of pupils. 

They must especially be taught to observe accurately the 
natural objects which surround them, and the circle of observation 
should form the limit to their study of natural history. They 
are made acquainted with the soils and minerals which are most 
common, and with the various species of grain, and vegetables, 
and grass ; they are taught to distinguish the wild plants 
which they meet in the fields, into useful and noxious, and to 
know the modes of employing the one, and of destroying the 
other. The general action of air, light, heat, rain, and manures 
of various kinds upon plants, is also connected with this. The 
various classes of insects are pointed out to them in the same 



APPENDIX. 338 

manner ; the structure of animals and the human body is 
explained to them by means of skeletons ; they are accuse 
tomed to bring to their instructors such objects as strike their 
attention ; and occasionally lessons are given in a little excur- 
sion made by the teacher with his pupils. 

In addition to the obvious importance of this knowledge in 
itself, it contributes materially to the moral end proposed, of 
exciting an interest in their employment. All the objects they 
meet with are thus associated with a circle of interesting facts, 
and furnish them materials for recollection and amusement ? 
they present them subjects for examination and observation, in 
order to verify the accounts they have heard ; in short, it ani- 
mates every scene of their labours, and leads them to useful 
reflection, in place of presenting them a mere mass of dead 
materials, which only remind them of past labours, and call 
them to future trials. Their fundamental ideas of geography 
are obtained in the course of their observation : their attention 
is cheifly confined to their native country, and only general 
ideas are given of other countries : they are thus taught and 
habituated to examine all that passes before them ; they must 
obviously be furnished with the means of acquiring the ideas of 
others from books, and of communicating what they have ob- 
served. To acquire the art of expressing our ideas is the best 
mode of attaining completely the first object : they should 
also be habituated to describe with correctness and care, that 
they may be led to record to some extent their own experience 
and observations. The general remarks and methods in refer- 
ence to language are equally applicable here ; but they are of 
course confined to their mother tongue, or rather to the high 
German : they have constant exercises, both oral and written 
and obtain considerable facility in both. In this respect, a 
Swiss peasant has great difficulties to encounter, from the fact 
that the language he speaks is a peculiar dialect of the German, 
differing from it, not only in a multitude of individual words, 
but in the forms and idioms. In teaching pupils to read, the 
methods of Olivier and Pestalozzi are followed : the letters 
are indicated by their sounds, and not their names ; and words 
are thus spelled. Constant exercises in the variation and com- 
bination of words are employed, both oral and in writing. 

But the means of description are incomplete, unless they are 
so far acquainted with the elements of geometry and design as 
to be able to delineate the objects they see. Used in this 



334 APPENDIX. 

manner, as a mechanical, and not as a fine 'art, it is a ne- 
cessary supplement to writing in an ordinary education. It is 
difficult without it to have a distinct conception of instruments 
and their parts ; and it is therefore necessary to those who use, 
as well as to those who make and repair them, in order to com- 
municate ideas intelligibly, and execute them correctly. It 
also aids in forming the eye to the habit of measuring and 
estimating correctly distances and quantities, and to preserve 
accuracy and order in the arrangemeut of fields, plantations, 
drains, and in other agricultural labour. In all the arts of the 
joiner, mason, &c. the importance of geometry is obviously 
very great, and it is singular that it should be overlooked. 

The height of a tree, and its cubical contents, or the dimen- 
sions of a stack of grain, can only be decided in this way. 
In this view, geometry is an acquisition of absolute necessity 
to the farmer who wishes to carry on his business with cer- 
tainty and readiness. It also serves as an important aid in 
forming the hand- writing — an art mechanical, indeed, but of no 
small importance in deciding the station and success of persons 
of their class, and always a valuable recommendation. 

In connection with this topic, it needs no proof that the 
pnpils of an agricultural school should be qualified to perform 
every calculation of geometry and arithmetic which the opera- 
tions of agriculture, or the concerns of the family require, in the 
division of fields, the estimation of crops, the arrangement of 
accounts, &c. It is thus only that they can act independently 
of others, or avoid the errors and failures into which loose 
estimates generally lead in a greater or less degree ; and ascer- 
tain with certainty whether their labours are leadiug to profit 
or loss ; and it is the only means by which we can hope to pre- 
pare them to act in those stations for which their agricultural 
knowledge and character might qualify them. Mental calcu- 
lation is obviously of peculiar importance to those who are 
destined to a life of labour. In these branches, the admirable 
methods devised by Pestalozzi, and improved by some of his 
pupils, are constantly employed : the exercises are multiplied 
and. varied to the utmost, and produce a readiness and skill 
which puts to shame the slow operations of those who have 
been accustomed only to mechanical and written exercises. 

The mathematical studies are very useful in forming the 
habit of close attention and judgment. But the judgment 
must be still further exercised by the observation of men, not 



APPENDIX. 335 

only as presented in real life, but in history. The course of 
Biblical history is precisely the same -with these pupils as with 
those of the literary institution. In reference to the more 
limited sphere of action in which they are destined to move, and 
the comparatively short time which they can devote to study, 
their attention to this subject is limited to the history of Swit- 
zerland, and to the narratives written for youth which abound 
in the German : they are taught to form their estimate of men 
chiefly from the scenes of real life, which may thus be made a 
perpetual source of valuable knowledge. 

In reference to physical education, it is obvious that the same 
care is necessary in regard to cleanliness, purity of air, and 
wholesomeness of diet, as with regard to the rich. Their future 
destination requires that they should be exposed to greater bo- 
dily hardship, and their appearance and habitual state show that 
they are thus exempted from that series of little indispositions 
which are so common among the pupils of the superior class. 

Their labours serve, to a great extent, in place of gymnastic 
exercises. Still these are used occasionally, as a means of pro- 
ducing activity, as well as vigour, and at those seasons when 
their employments are not sufficiently active ; and it is found 
advisable and agreeable, that after the ordinary labours of the 
day, the pupils should not only be indulged, but encouraged in 
active sports. They even serve to relax and refresh limbs, 
which are often confined to one species of action. 

The principles of moral and religious education admit of no 
variation on account of rank, except that necessity often 
supplies the place of discipline, and renders superfluous many 
of those means which are employed to occupy moments of 
leisure. Among these, however, music cannot be excluded. 
As a means of cultivating a devotional spirit, and uniting in the 
solemnities of public worship, everyone influenced by Christian 
principle must admit the importance of sacred music. But it 
has other important uses. There are periods of exhaustion in 
the life of every man, there must be hours of repose and re- 
laxation, in which the mind has need of some innocent amuse- 
ment Xo prevent improper thoughts, and this necessity is greater 
in proportion as it is less cultivated. At such periods, as we 
have elsewhere observed, the influence of the popular vocal 
music of Switzerland is invaluable ; and no single acquisition, 
besides religious truth, will probably have so happy an effect on 
the moral character of the labouring man. 



336 APPENDIX. 

A number of commissioners who visited the establishment, 
observed that they, like most other strangers, could not hear 
the music of these pupils without the deepest emotion. The 
greater part of them know by heart a hundred religious and 
popular hymns. Wehrli himself observes, that he has uniformly 
found that in proportion as vocal music was improved, a kind 
and devotional spirit was promoted. 



LETTER XXXIII. 

COMBINATION OF INSTITUTIONS AT HOFWYL. MARKET FOR 

PRODUCE. EXHIBITION TO THE WEALTHY OF AN IM- 
PROVED SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE. EXAMPLE OF PATIENT 

LABOUR. RESPECT FOR THE POOR INSPIRED IN THE RICH. 

MEANS OF HEALTH FURNISHED. AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL 

FURNISHES EDUCATORS. ADVANTAGES TO THE LABOURING 

PUPILS OF APPARATUS AND INSTRUCTION. LEADS TO A 

MORE CORRECT ESTIMATE OF WEALTH AND LUXURY. 

My dear Friend, — That is the most simple machine which 
accomplishes the most important objects with the least complica- 
tion of parts ; and not merely that which consists of a single 
wheel and axis, or those whose scanty and ill-wrought materials 
would rather entitle them to the appellation of rude. 

The combination of institutions which Hofwyl presents, has 
sometimes been objected to ; but so far as I could judge, they 
exert the happiest influence upon each other. 

It is obvious that the ready market afforded to the produce 
of the farm, gives a security and facility to the sale which 
render it much more advantageous, and admit more efforts 
at improvement, consistently with prudence. On the other 
hand, the number of labourers at the command of the proprietor, 
and accustomed to his views, enables him to accomplish many 
plans which would otherwise be impracticable. 

The continual exhibition of the most improved systems of 
agriculture presented to the pupils, awakens their attention to 
this important subject, and renders them so familiar with habits 
of order and neatness, that their minds are gradually formed in 
this respect. To those who are destined to become proprietors, 
as many of them are, or to those who have the taste and the 
capacity to attempt to introduce improvements in agriculture, 
the opportunity thus afforded of observing a system to which 



APPENDIX. 337 

the attention of all Europe has been directed, is inestimable. 
All will be led to appreciate more highly this primitive, this 
salutary occupation, and to lose that prejudice which too often 
exists against it. 

The pupils of the Agricultural School present a continual 
example of patient, persevering, industry, combined with a high 
degree of cheerfulness, which produces a conviction of the con- 
nection of these things which no theoretical instruction could 
inspire : the pupils of the High School learn by approximation 
to the children of the poor, that they are by no means deserv- 
ing of the contempt they are too apt to feel. The honourable 
character of industry in every condition of life is felt : they find 
them often exhibiting superior intelligence, as well as superior 
worth, to their companions of the higher classes, or even to them- 
selves, and possessing more real enjoyment : they acquire the 
habit of separating those ideas, so long indivisible in their minds, 
of humble food, and lodging, and clothing, with misery, and of 
inferior rank with contempt ; and discover that enjoyment and 
respectabilty belong not to the exterior circumstances, but to . 
the character of the individual. 

The farm also presents the best occasions for invigorating 
feeble constitutions, for restoring those who may occasionally 
be injured by excessive application, or too rapid growth, and 
for giving a wholesome discipline to those who need to be 
brought to habits of industry by means of bodily labour. 

The Agricultural School serves also as a nursery of guardians 
and educators for the younger pupils of the wealthy class. 
Fellenberg has seldom found persons accustomed to the ease of 
wealth, or to the luxuries of intellectual pursuits, who could 
devote that constant, unwearied attention, from morning to 
night, who could exercise that patience with the minutiae of 
duty, or with the faults of children, which such a station 
demands. On the other hand, to the pupils of the Agricultural 
School, accustomed to constant labour, it is a species of re- 
laxation, a station involving something of luxury. This school 
serves also as a nursery for workmen for the farm and work- 
shops of Hofwyl, and it will contribute materially to the per- 
fection of the Institution, when all those who are connected with 
it shall have been formed agreeably to the principles of edu- 
cation here developed. The pupils of the Agricultural School 
gain also essentially by this arrangement, and especially those 
of them who are destined to be instructors : they are within 
Q 



338 APPENDIX. 

reach of means of instruction, in the professors and apparatus of 
the scientific institutions, which it would he impossible other- 
wise to afford them : they have at the same time a more 
extensive circle of observation, and become acquainted with all 
portions of the society of which they are to be members. In 
accordance with the general rule, facts abundantly prove that 
extended knowledge renders them more contented with their 
own situation. So long as they saw the wealthy classes only at 
a distance, and were dazzled by the splendour and luxury 
which surrounded them, they were disposed to envy them as a 
sort of superior beings, and their circumstances as a species of 
paradise. A nearer approach undeceives them : they find 
them often inferior to themselves in bodily vigour and mental 
capacity, and therefore deprived of many pleasures derived 
from these sources ; they perceive that the superior privileges 
for improvement which they above all envy them, are often 
lost from the indolence and pride which their station inspires ; 
and that, with all these, they are often less respectable than 
their poorer companions : they see that they are oftener im- 
patient, unhappy, and diseased, in the midst of the exterior 
comforts and means of enjoyment they possess. It is even 
found that occasional entertainments, in which they are allowed 
to partake the same indulgences, teach them to return to their 
homely fare with double relish. Wehrli assured me that these 
circumstances have, in fact, this influence ; and that, contrary to 
the common expectations of a stranger, the neighbourhood of 
the institution of the rich is a means of rendering those 
content who were inclined to repine at their lot, and to desire a 
change. 

At the same time that they become accustomed to living in 
view of splendour and luxury, without desiring or hoping to 
partake them, they learn to recognise the inferiority of their 
rank without being degraded by it ; while the pupils of the 
higher classes acquire by this connection the habit of treating 
their inferiors with kindness and deference. 

I mention all these circumstances in order to give you a 
complete idea of Hofwyl, although many of them are not ap- 
plicable to the United States : still they will show us that 
there is not the danger which is usually apprehended in placing 
inlthe same institution those whose dress and circumstances 
necessarily distinguish them. 



APPENDIX. 339 



LETTER XXXIV. 

SCHOOL FOR THE POOR GIRLS. DESIGN OF THE SCHOOL FOR 

GIRLS. INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. LANGUAGE. ARITH- 
METIC. ELEMENTS OF FORM. NATURAL HISTORY. 

SINGING. MORAL EDUCATION. DOMESTIC AND PHYSICAL 

EDUCATION. DOMESTIC OCCUPATIONS AND AGRICULTURAL 

LABOURS. DIVISION OF THE DAY. CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

My dear Friend, — I have described to you in previous 
letters the general system of education adopted at Hofwyl, and 
the various branches of this establishment, with the exception 
of one — the School for Girls. This is far from being the least 
interesting and important, although, as every thing connected 
with the female sex should be, it is least obvious to the 
stranger. 

It is in effect a branch of the Agricultural School, designed 
to train females for domestic occupation, in the same station in 
life. The pupils are lodged and instructed in a building erected 
for the purpose in the garden of the Mansion-house : their 
education is conducted by the eldest daughter of Fellenberg, 
who with praiseworthy devotedness has taken up her residence 
under the same roof with her humble but interesting charge. 
This school contains from twenty to thirty girls, of all ages, 
from five years upwards. Like the boys of Wehrli, they are 
children of the labouring classes, taken often from the highways 
and hedges. The same principles of education, the same 
methods of instruction, are adopted as in the other branches of 
the Institution, modified of course in their application by the 
sex and destination of the pupil. 

With regard to intellectual education, the girls are taught, as 
their first task, to read, speak, and write their own language 
correctly. In this, the truly simple methods of Pestalozzi are 
adopted. The pupils are required to express their ideas cor- 
rectly in simple sentences, to write these sentences, and, when 
written, to read them : the length and complexity of the 
phrases are increased, until they are able to write original 
phrases, and to express their ideas in a continued letter or 
narrative. 

Arithmetic is considered necessary to females, as well as to 
males, and they are especially made familiar with mental cal. 
culation : the most advanced proceed as far as Proportion. 
Q 2 



340 APPENDIX. 

The elements of form and linear drawing are taught to such 
an extent as is necessary to give a correct eye in the ordinary 
tasks of domestic life, and especially in cutting out and making 
articles of clothing. The pupils employ their know ledge of 
this kind in calculating the quantity of cloth necessary for a 
garment, and the best mode of cutting it and giving it the 
appropriate form. It was designed and is found to furnish a 
standard and rule of correctness, in place of that indefinite and 
uncertain tact (or knack, as it is sometimes termed,) at such 
occupations, which, however valuable, is not possessed by all ; 
and if it do not lead to so rapid or so successful efforts in the 
less adroit, will at least prevent serious errors, and promote 
economy. 

The pupils are also made familiar with the useful and 
noxious plants and animals of the country, in the same manner 
and for the same purpose as in the school for boys. It has 
seemed to me more and more a matter of surprise and regret 
that our children should be earlier made acquainted with the 
curious plants of other regions than with the useful and poison- 
ous ones which fall continually in their way : and surely no 
kind of knowledge is more important in the domestic economy 
of a farm. 

Singing is also taught in the evenings, not only for the same 
reasons as to the other sex, to soften the character, to elevate 
the taste above low and base employments or amusements, and 
to furnish an innocent recreation, but as a means of occupying 
the mind usefully and agreeably in the many hours of confine- 
ment and manual employment to which females are destined, 
and to prepare them, if they are called to be wives and mothers, 
to cheer their companions, and amuse and instruct their children, 
with the popular music to which I have formerly alluded. 

The principles and methods of moral education are sub- 
stantially the same as in the school of Wehrli, and need not be 
repeated, The manners and morals of the pupils are super- 
intended by Miss Fellenberg, aided by a person who attends to 
all the details. The religious instruction and devotional ex- 
ercises of the children are conducted by Miss Fellenberg, 
assisted at two or three lessons weekly by the chaplain of the 
Institution. Like Wehrli, she watches over the character and 
conduct of every individual, and endeavours to train the elder 
to perform the duties and feel the responsibilities to the younger 
to which they may be called in after life. Some of the most 



APPENDIX. 341 

promising receive particular instruction, designed to prepare 
them to become teachers of village or infant schools. 

The principal peculiarity of this branch of Hofwyl is in the 
domestic education of the pupils. All the domestic duties of 
the school — cooking, cleaning, washing, &c. — are performed by 
the pupils themselves. These are so distributed, according to 
the age and strength of the pupils, and are so frequently changed, 
that each one is made familiar with all the various branches of 
household economy as early as they are capable of the task. 
Care is also taken that each one shall have some responsibility 
— some particular sphere of duty. A pupil who is too young 
for any other occupation, may have such a little task assigned 
as the keeping a single spot of the yard clear ; or collecting all 
the rags andjshreds from the floor, separating the woollen from 
the cotton, and the useful from those only fit for the paper- 
maker ; or taking out and putting up, at the proper time, a single 
article of furniture ; and is then required to perform this as 
faithfully and punctually as if it were of the greatest im- 
portance. 

Spinning, knitting, sewing, and the cutting out and making 
of garments, are regular and daily subjects of instruction ; and 
the pupils are required to perform, so far as their numbers and 
capacity admit, all the offices of sisters in making and repairing 
the clothes of the pupils of Wehrli. 

During the mild season they are occupied a part of the day, 
agreeably to the customs of Switzerland, in light agricultural 
labours, such as cultivating the garden of the mansion, gathering 
weeds and stones from the fields, collecting or distributing 
manure, gathering vegetables, gleaning, or assisting in the hay 
harvest: they labour in companies, uuer the superintendence 
of a leader, like the boys, but always separated from them. It 
is obvious that these and their domestic occupations constitute 
the appropriate physical education of these children ; and Miss 
Fellenberg considers their out-door employments as almost 
indispensable, in giving them a constitution adequate to their 
future labours. Hours of relaxation are given to them, as to 
the boys, for active amusements. 

The day is spent as follows : — The girls rise at five o'clock, 
and are occupied till six in cleaning and arranging their persons 
and chambers. Each of the younger pupils has an elder sister 
assigned her, who must act the part of a mother in doing or 
superintending these duties for her. Another hour is occupied 
Q 3 



342 APPENDIX. 

in committing to memory hymns or portions of Scripture, or 
odes, and cheerful or moral songs, carefully selected. A little 
before seven o'clock they breakfast, and then receive instruction 
in reading from the more advanced pupils. At eight, one of the 
daughters of Fellenberg attends to their instruction in writing ; 
the remainder of the morning during the winter is occupied in 
knitting, spinning, and sewing, accompanied with exercises in 
language, mental calculation, or singing : a few, in their turn, 
assist in the kitchen. In the summer, as I have before stated, 
these occupations are in some measure interrupted or varied 
by agricultural employments. 

At half-past eleven they dine, and are then employed in the 
arrangements of the house, or allowed to relax themselves until 
one o'clock. From one to two o'clock they receive instruction ; 
the remainder of the afternoon is spent like the morning, and 
at six they sup. From seven to eight is occupied by Miss 
Fellenberg in reading the Old and New Testament alternately, 
and in religious instruction and singing, and the pupils retire at 
an early hour. 

It is not a little interesting to see the simplicity of a life of 
labour combined with the intellectual and moral elevation pro- 
duced by the continual superintendence of a well-educated and 
refined female, and to witness the practical tendency and moral 
benefit of every branch of instruction and every species of 
occupation. Would that this sketch might excite some of the 
many females of elevated and cultivated minds, who feel the 
want of some object in life, to scatter blessings in the same 
manner among the female children of the poor, and the families 
in which these objects of their benevolence may be prepared to 
act as domestics or matrons ! 

LETTER XXXV. 

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO EXAMINE THE 
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL AT HOFWYL. (PUBLISHED AT PARIS, 
1815.) 

In 1813 a commission was appointed for the purpose of 
visiting Hofwyl, at the head of which was Mr. Rengger, for- 
merly an officer of the Helvetic republic, and one of the most 
distinguished patriots of Switzerland. The commissioners spent 
six days in examining the Agricultural School in all the details 
of the labours and studies and religious exercises of the pupils, 
their food and dress, and accommodations. They lived among 



APPENDIX. 343 

the children from morning to night ; and their report is a mere 
statement of the facts they witnessed. This report, coming 
from men of the first character, and under a high responsibility, 
refers to the statement of Mr. Fellenberg himself as fully 
justified by what they had seen of the Institution, and presents 
a striking detail of facts, entirely corresponding to those which 
are found in this work, and which, indeed, are familiar to every 
faithful observer of Hofwyl. We solicit those who have re- 
garded our statements on this subject, and especially on the 
efficiency of mild methods of government, as partaking more of 
theory than practice, to examine these explicit statements of 
eye-witnesses of the first rank in talents and experience. 

With Wehrli, the excellent instructor of the Agricultural 
School, the commissioners express the highest satisfaction^ 
*' From the dawn of the day," they observe, " he seems to have 
no thought nor time but for his pupils. When he appeared in 
the midst of them, engaged in all their labours and amusements, 
one might almost suppose him to be an elder brother." They 
■were especially struck with the good order which prevailed in. 
an Institution formed and governed like this. It comprised 
twenty-three boys, from the lowest, and often the most vicious 
families, frequently abandoned children, and literally taken from 
the highways and hedges, and yet under the influence of a mild 
system of government, living, not merely in peace, but in har- 
mony and affection with one another, and with the teacher. 
The following extracts present their observations as to the 
discipline of the Institution, 

" Punishments," says the report, " are very seldom resorted 
to ; but whenever they are, they prove efficacious. No other 
rewards are bestowed than the satisfaction and approbation 
expressed by their teacher. Every distinction which is calcu- 
lated to flatter the vanity and create envy is banished from the 
Institution. The punishments are — short but severe remon- 
strances, sometimes in private and sometimes in the presence of 
the other children ; exclusion of the delinquent from meals ; 
and, lastly, corporal punishment, which is only admissible in 
cases requiring the most rigorous discipline." 

" In one of the evening exercises, at which we always 
attended, Wehrli, after having given an interesting lecture, 
directed one of the children, without mentioning any name, to 
be on his guard against the repetition of a fault which he had 
committed. Immediately all became serious, and preserved the 
Q 4 



344 APPENDIX. 

strictest silence ; each one appeared to take the reproof home 
to himself. Very often, -when they are sensible of having com- 
mitted a fault, they pass judgment upon themselves, and absent 
themselves from their repast. On such occasions, Wehrli 
directs a small portion of food to be carried to them in an ad- 
joining apartment. Corporal punishments have very seldom 
been necessary, and the cases in which they have been em- 
ployed have uniformly been soon after the commencement of 
the child's residence at Hofwyl. The observations which 
Wehrli has made upon this subject in his journal show how 
attentively he has studied the art of education. He remarks as 
follows : " — 

" It is not useful to inflict corporal punishment to a very 
great extent ; but it cannot be denied that, when judiciously 
and moderately inflicted, it may be advantageous. For those 
more advanced in years, if a paternal admonition proves 
ineffectual, a severe remonstrance in private, or, perhaps, to 
increase their mortification, before their comrades, is usually 
sufficient." 

" In case of employing corporal punishment, it is seldom 
that I inflict it immediately after the fauit has been committed. 
I suspend it until the child has had opportunity for reflection. 
I then endeavour to make him sensible of his fault by reasoning 
adapted to his capacity, and close with saying : s I know of no 
surer way to make you remember what I have so often told 
you, than to employ the ferule, although I do it with great 
reluctance. You, who have so soon forgotten the faithful 
warning which I gave you last week, will receive two blows ; 
and when you are tempted to do wrong again, these blows 
will remind you that God sees you, and that he will punisbu 
you far more severely, and more certainly, for all your faults." 

" When we make use of this mode of punishment, I can say 
from experience that the effect is certain ; but he who punishes 
a child while in a passion, and without allowing himself time 
for reflection, commits a great error, and counteracts the 
highest objects of education. Such a teacher appears to his 
pupils in the light of a hard and cruel master. True, they 
strive to avoid, from time to time, the commission of faults ; 
but it is only the fear of chastisement that restrains them ; it is 
not affection for their master, nor the fear of displeasing God, 
nor regard for their own interests, which influences them : 
they remember nothing but the blows. What, then, is gained ? 
Nothing, most assuredly. On the contrary, much is lost; 



APPENDIX. 345 

since the respect and affections of the children for their 
teacher are weakened, and thus his influence over them is 
diminished. 

" With the more advanced scholars, I succeed much better 
by mortifying them, and showing them, by mentioning some 
examples, that the future consequences of their present faults 
will be fearful. Children think more of the future than we are 
accustomed to suppose. Deep impressions are often made upon 
their minds by speaking to them of their prospects in mature 
age ; and what is best of all, they see, by the solicitude which we 
manifest for their future happiness, that we love them, and that 
we wish to benefit them. To this they will not remain indif- 
ferent." 

Some of them are extremely sensitive to commendation and 
to blame, whenever they are distributed among those who mani- 
fest an uncommon degree of application or negligence. This 
usually takes place during the evening exercise. At this hour 
of tranquillity, in which my children are united by the sentiments 
of the heart, it is a source of pleasure to them to hear me ex- 
press my satisfaction, and acknowledge that they have fulfilled 
their duties. And they are proportionally sad when I have 
cause to reproach them for negligence. He who is so unfor- 
tunate as to deserve this, feels very painfully the necessity of 
retiring to rest without being permitted, like the others, to 
receive the extended hand and the cheerful " good night " of 
his teacher. We should not, however, appear in the morning 
as if nothing unpleasant had transpired, and meet the child with 
our usual cheerfulness. It is important, oftentimes, to preserve 
this coldness for the space of two or three days, until a reform- 
ation is thoroughly completed. In this way the effect will be- 
come lasting. To appear at the same time offended and pleased, 
will tend to create among the scholars an indifference to all that 
is recommended to them. I erred in this respect when I first 
took charge of George , one of my early pupils. The con- 
sequence was, that when I reprimanded him, or remonstrated 
with him, it appeared at first to produce some effect ; but in a 
very few hours it was forgotten, and the same fault was again 
committed, as if nothing had been said to him." 

" The result of this course of education and instruction (says 

the reporter) is, that it would be difficult to find, even in the 

best regulated schools, consisting of as many as three-and-twenty 

scholars, an equal degree of decency in speech, decorum in 

Q 5 



346 APPENDIX. 

actions, order, obedience, and especially so much mutual affec- 
tion and kindness. Among all that is interesting in this school, 
this circumstance is most to be admired. Although we have 
been constantly present at the meals, the instructions, and the 
labours of the pupils, we have never heard an improper or in- 
decent word from the lips of one of them. Their manners, and 
indeed their -whole deportment, are frank and ingenuous, and still 
perfectly proper. Their intercourse with their master is marked 
with confidence and affection ; and it is through the influence of 
such feelings, and not of fear, that implicit obedience is secured. 
When in the midst of their most clamorous sports, and loudest 
shouts of gaiety, if the voice of Wehrli is heard, saying : " It is 
sufficient, my children, let us go ; " the noise and excitement 
instantly cease, and all follow with alacrity and silence. 

" It sometimes happens that some one of the pupils, not 
having completed his work, is detained from his repast. When 
this occurs, all are eager to preserve for him his portion of food, 
or to carry it to him. It is affecting, when one of the younger 
pupils chances to fall asleep after supper, to see his neighbour 
gently supporting his head. We once observed one of the elder 
scholars, shake one of the small ones, who was sleeping near 
him, rather too harshly. Wehrli reproved him, and asked him 
if he should like to be awaked in that manner, and at the same 
time requested the child to go and lie down. We were present 
one day when the children were opening the heads of poppies, 
in order to collect the seeds. One of the small ones, inadver- 
tently mixed some of those which had been emptied with those 
that had not. Wehrli reproved them for this negligence, and 
asked, who had committed the mistake. They all preserved 
profound silence ; but when Wehrli had retired some distance, 
one of them said to the guilty pupil, ' It was you who did it ; 
take care not to do it again.' Wehrli remarked to us, that 
sometime previous to this, having addressed a similar question 
to the assembled pupils, one of them accused his comrade of the 
fault. Scarcely had the words escaped him, when he began to 
weep, and immediately ran to Wehrli, and besought him not to 
punish the accused. If our readers deem these particulars of 
minor importance, we beg them to remember that they convey 
an idea, in the clearest possible manner, of the habitual and daily 
conduct of the children, and consequently depict, their cha- 
racter and manners more clearly than the more striking but 
rare traits." 



APPENDIX. 347 

" The constant cheerfulness of the children, even while en- 
gaged in their work, has often heen remarked hy those who 
visit Hofwyl. Their countenances prove them to he happy. 
One of the pupils asked his companions if the hours did not pass 
much faster at Hofwyl than elsewhere ; and said, for his part, 
they seemed to be half-hours." 

Such are the results of a simple and mild government, based 
upon religious principles, and accompanied by regular labours, 
alternated with appropriate instruction, upon Swiss children of 
the lowest class and the most degraded character. Will it be 
less efficient with the children of America ? 

LETTER XXXVI. 

SCHOOL COLONY OF MEYKIRCH. 

The present failure of attempts to establish agricultural schools 
on the plan of Hofwyl, led Fellenberg to the belief that the 
difficulty of finding a suitable locality, and persons capable of 
directing it, was greater than he had imagined. He therefore 
resolved to establish a colony of children, under proper super- 
intendence, on a piece of uncultivated land, and leave them to 
earn their own subsistence by their labours ; employing the 
hours necessary for repose from bodily fatigue in giving them 
appropriate instruction. He thus hoped to provide for their 
practical and intellectual education with only the capital ne- 
cessary to establish them, and the aid of a low price paid by such 
pupils as might be sent by parents who were not in a state of 
poverty. About fifteen acres are devoted to this colony. In 
the climate of Berne (which is far from being favourable) this 
is deemed sufficient, in connection with the various branches 
of industry which will be introduced, to support a school of 
thirty pupils. This he considers as the extent to which such an 
establishment should be carried. 

It was not until the summer of 1827, after seven years' per- 
severance in seeking a suitable place and proper teachers, that 
he succeeded in beginning the establishment. It was opened 
with six pupils. The boys who formed the colony were de- 
tached from the school of Hofwyl, and established, like Robinson 
Crusoe on his island, on the side of a mountain, favourably ex- 
posed, but poorly cultivated. Hofwyl serves, in place of the 
ship of Robinson, in furnishing them supplies, until they are 
able to provide for their own wants. They found nothing on 
Q 6 



348 APPENDIX. 

this mountain but a shed, which served as the nucleus of the 
house they were to build for themselves. The plan and mate- 
rials of this building were prepared beforehand ; yet their labours 
in its construction attached them to it as their own work. 

It was at the moment in which they were occupied with the 
completion of this building that I first visited the colony. 
There were traces of those imperfections which attend first 
efforts, and which, in needing to be corrected, serve as a lesson 
of experience and patience. They were engaged in extending 
the wings of their building for the accommodation of their 
animals, in digging a cellar, or rather a basement story, which 
would provide room for their dairy and vegetables during the 
winter, and also for one or two looms, as means of employing 
their hours of leisure : their common bed, for the time, was a 
large space filled with straw, and covered with an immense 
sheet, on whieh they reposed side by side ; their food consisted 
almost exclusively of potatoes, with the milk of their cow, and 
bread sent from Hofwyl ; their dining-room was furnished 
with slates and books, which indicated that it served also as 
their school-room. Two or three hours in a day were devoted 
to instruction. A pupil of Wehrli watched continually over 
their moral conduct ; and an improved system of agriculture, 
which they are required to bring into operation upon uncultivated, 
land, served as a course of practical education. It was delightful 
to see, in the midst of this solitude and comparitive privation, 
the cheerfulness and activity which pervaded the whole mass of 
the pupils, as well as the spirit of fraternal kindness which 
seemed to reign toward each other, and toward their leader. 
At a second visit, in 1829, 1 found their house completed, with a 
convenient kitchen, cellar, dairy, and weaving-room, in the 
basement story; and^ their bed-room furnished with separate 
beds. 

During the year preceding, they had, with the aid of a work- 
man, pierced a passage through a soft sand rock, five feet in 
height, and 280 feet in length, into the mountain, to procure 
water. They had raised a terrace, fifteen feet wide, to serve as 
a road, and prevent the ground from washing ; and another, 
twenty feet square, and six feet high at the extremity, as a 
garden spot, in front of the house. In addition to this, a spot 
of several acres, covered with wood four years before, was now 
perfectly cleared, even from stumps, and under fine cultivation, 
chiefly in potatoes. The tillage of this ground, with their 



APPENDIX. S49 

washing, cooking, sewing, and weaving, occupied their labouring 
hours, and four hours daily, on the average, were devoted to 
instruction : they attended public worship, in a village at the 
foot of the mountain, and occasionally at Hofwyl. 

Their stock consisted of a hive of bees ; two cows, one of which 
was presented by Capo d'Istria, now president of Greece ; two 
goats, and two swine, which arrived at midnight without any 
message, but were supposed to be a present from the philan- 
thropic naturalist Bonafoux, who had just before visited them. 
Their food consisted of potatoes, carrots, clotted or curdled 
milk, and soup made with butter or pork : they had a supply 
of potatoes, milk, and butter, from their own stores : they had 
not yet sufficient grass for their cow ; and were also dependent 
on Hofwyl for bread, and oil for lights. In return, they had 
sent thither, during the year, a calf, a kid, three pieces of linen 
of twenty or thirty yards each, and a quantity of wood. In 
order to establish this school, Fellenburg had expended about 
700 dollars in addition to the purchase-money of the land. The 
latter has been paid in part by wood cut from it ; and the value 
of the spot, in its actual state, far exceeds the expenses incurred. 
It is well worthy of consideration whether such an establishment 
would not serve best as a moral hospital for those unhappy 
youths who are often sent in despair on board ships, or into 
military establishments, as the only means of subduing their 
habits of vice. The isolated situation, the necessary absence 
of external temptation, combined with a mild but strict disci- 
pline, would exert an influence far more favourable to reform- 
ation than the corrupting atmosphere of a ship or a camp. 
I could wish, however, to see it under the direction of parents, 
that the softening influence of the family state might be added 
to the subduing power of other means. 

In regard to this establishment, Fellenberg, in a communi- 
cation addressed to the friends of education, of which the editor 
recently received a copy, remarks as follows : " It is particularly 
in the labours of the field that Divine Providence appeal's to 
have assigned the resources necessary for the education of poor 
children. But the objects of real philanthropy will be fully at- 
tained only in proportion as we can give our pupils the satis- 
faction of feeling that they are contributing to the good of 
others, while they are labouring for themselves. This object is 
especially secured in the colony of Meykirch. In forming 
for themselves an asylum under the Divine protection, the pupils 



350 APPENDIX. 

also provide, in proportion to the success of their efforts, for the 
welfare of their companions in poverty and ignorance, by making 
room for the reception of others, and especially by establishing 
the practicability, and leading to the formation of similar insti- 
tutions. Their success and their enjoyment, would of course 
be increased by the addition of assistants thus obtained. I 
ought not to suppress the fact here, that my young colonists 
pray morning and evening that God will encourage others at 
some future days, by the example of their colony, to lead the 
vast number of children neglected and corrupted to temporal 
and eternal salvation by the same course which they are pur- 
suing. When we told them of the danger to which the children 
of the Greeks were exposed, of dying in famine and nakedness, 
or of being plunged into slavery, apostasy, and every species of 
debasement, they were anxious to send them at once all they 
had to dispose of; and prayed that God would grant these un- 
fortunate children the same privileges which they enjoyed." 
" This school is one which may be imitated wherever there is 
land well exposed, and well cultivated, under the direction of a 
beneficent proprietor, whose philanthropy is so far enlightened 
that he is not satisfied to repose in the illusions of inactive good 
will, nor yet to do good imperfectly. The most essential point 
is to procure instructors whose character is thoroughly proved. 
Any others might abuse the power entrusted to them." " In 
one respect such an establishment has peculiar advantages. 
The pupils of a school like Hofwyl do not distinguish the 
results of their own efforts, amidst the mass of labours which is 
produced in common with others. The colony of Meykirch is 
essentially different in this respect : all that appears is the re- 
sult of the labours of the pupil, unassisted except by the Divine 
blessing. In seeing these, industry and the love of labour find 
increasing encouragement from day to day. The irregular, un- 
connected character of thought and feeling which belongs to 
childhood assumes more consistency and maturity. Those who 
have been pupils in Hofwyl itself are strengthened in their con- 
fidence in the blessing of Providence upon their efforts, and be- 
come more obedient to the guides assigned them." 

In reference to the apparent hardship of such an institution, 
he observes : " Let us not deceive ourselves concerning the 
wants of infancy, and the most important objects of education. 
It is not in reducing too much the difficulties of life, that we can 
secure the success and happiness of our youth : it is in teaching 



APPENDIX. 351 

them to overcome these difficulties with cheerfulness, that we shall 
best succeed in rendering them happy : they must, above all 
things, be taught to govern their propensities, to subdue their 
passions. Nothing is better calculated for this object than to 
leave them to struggle with nature in its uncultivated state, pro- 
vided it be done under the direction of a guide sufficiently en- 
lightened and benevolent to direct them properly, and to moderate 
their efforts when they become excessive ; a point not less im- 
portant than that of overcoming the propensities to indolence 
and disorder. I cannot discover any means, generally applicable 
to the neglected and ignorant, so efficacious in leading to that 
great evangelical reformation which should be the object of all 
our most anxious wishes and strenuous efforts." 

Sketch of the Normal Course of Instruction at Hofwyl 
in 1834. 

In a former article we described the general objects of 
occasional courses of instruction for teachers : we also gave j 
an account of the efforts of Fellenberg for the improvement of I 
schools in Switzerland by this means, and of the principal topics | 
of instruction. We were led to this by the hope that such an 
example might induce some of the friends of education to 
attempt similar courses in our own country ; and if we should 
succeed, we are persuaded that they will be gratified to learn 
additional particulars concerning the plan adopted. The firstt 
object was to ascertain, by free conversation or examination,! 
the intellectual condition of the teachers, and to arrange them I 
in classes, and provide means of instruction adapted to their \ 
wants : they were connected in such a manner that the better \ 
informed might assist those who were less familiar with the ) 
subject, and that they might enjoy the advantages of mutual as 
well as general instruction. 

The day was opened and closed with religious exercises, in I 
which they were led particularly to consider the duties of their I 
office. Eight hours were assigned to instruction; the evening 
was devoted to free conversation on the state of the schools and 
their wants, and the subjects presented in the day ; and the j 
teachers had the opportunity of asking general questions, or 
presenting topics for discussion. Daily lessons were given in 
language, arithmetic, natural history, and vocal music ; three 
lessons weekly in religion, and the same number in geometry 



352 APPENDIX. 

and drawing ; and two in geography ; and two in anthropology, 
or the description of the human body and mind. Two or three 
hours daily were specially devoted to repetitions, or the copying 
of notes. ' The mode of instruction was adapted to the topic : 
sometimes it consisted merely in the exhibition of the subject, 
or of the methods of instruction ; but it was accompanied as 
often as possible by questions to the teachers, and by practical 
illustrations, either by forming a class among the teachers, or ] 
calling in the pupils of the Agricultural School. The object of 
this course was to give general views of some important topics ; 
to improve and inform the minds of the teachers themselves ; 
and especially to give them a complete view of the methods of 
teaching. We add an account of the principal courses : — 

The Maternal Language, or Grammar. — The course of in- \ 
struction in the mother tongue occupied one hour daily of the \ 
course, as being the basis of instruction in all other branches, j 
Clear and precise ideas of the meaning and connection of words, 
and of the proper mode of expressing our ideas, are not less 
indispensable to successful study than to the business of life. 
But the study of language was also presented as an efficient 
means of exciting and developing the powers of the mind ; 
because it should always be connected with the observation of 
the things to be described, or reflection on the ideas to be ex- 
pressed. In short, if properly taught, every step in this study 
is a practical exercise in logic. Instruction in the mother 
tongue ought to commence with exercises in speaking, the ma- 
terials for which should be derived from the objects immediately 
surrounding the child, or most familiar to him ; and are always 
connected with the exercise of the senses in distinguishing 
form, colour, size, weight, sound, feeling, and taste. It was also 
urged that the speaking, writing, and reading of the native lan- 
guage should go on together, in alternate exercises, as a part of 
one course of instruction ; and not divided, as they often are. 
A plan of instruction was described extending through the 
whole period allotted to school education,-? The subject was' 
divided into portions corresponding to orJtdwrcknrof etymology 
and syntax ; the first involving simply words and their vari- 
ations, and the second their connection in sentences. The 
teachers were advised to present both in such a manner that the 
pupil could not escape with mere mechanics! habits : that he 
should be compelled to exercise thought and judgment in regard 
to the meaning and variations of individual words and their 



APPENDIX. 353 

modes of combination. The last was especially recommended \ 
as the best means jof showing the meaning as well as the use of j 
individual words j in short, the methods advised and adopted 
present the most striking contrast with the mechanical exercises 
and the parrot-like acquisitions of pupils in grammar in 
English and American schools. 

The more important principles were dictated and written / 
down by the teachers ; and questions were asked and answered V 
in illustration. Written exercises on the various points pre- 
sented, were also prepared and corrected, as far as the time would 
allow. 

Religious Instruction. — The course of instruction in religion 
embraced, 1. Biblical history of the Old and New Testament; 
2. History of the Christian religion ; 3. Principles and precepts 
of Christianity ; 4. A brief exposition of the best manner of 
giving religious or catechetic instruction. The design of this 
course was two-fold : — 

1 . To give to the teacher himself clear views of the sacred 
truths and solemn duties of religion ; to enlighten his mind ; 
to strengthen him in the resolute, persevering performance of 
his duties ; to enlarge and ennoble his feelings ; and to implant 
in his heart an unchangeable, cheering hope, which should 
sustain him in the changes and trials incident to his laborious 
calling. 

2. To render him an able teacher of religion, so far as it falls 
within the sphere of the common school ; and to prepare him, by 
precept and example, to make his pupils acquainted with the 
truths of the Bible, and the duties it imposes, and to educate 
them as disciples of Christ. 

Both these objects were kept in view, and each more or less 
attended to, according to the nature of the subject and the 
knowledge of the auditors. 

Biblical History. — As the history of the Bible was already 
familiar to the audience, this subject was treated principally in 
reference to the method of teaching. After a general chrono- 
logical review of the principal events of the history, and its 
connection with that of other nations, the experienced teacher 
of a common school to whom this part of the course was en- 
trusted, examined the various methods of Biblical instruction 
adopted in the canton of Berne. He Warned his hearers against 
many of those methods, some of which reduce this part of 
instruction to a mechanical exercise of memory, that destroys 



354? APPENDIX. 

its spirit ; while others neglect the great ohject, and employ it 
merely as a means of instruction in language. He recom- 
mended — 1. That the teacher should relate each portion of the 
history in language as much biblical and child-like as possible, 
and call upon the children to repeat the narration. 

2. That he should require them to select the principal and 
subordinate circumstances, and combine them in their regular 
order and connection. 

3. That he should lead them to draw the conclusions and 
make the reflections which the history may suggest, under his 
direction and with his assistance ; but that he should carefully 
guard against the error of attempting to derive too many lessons 
of a different nature from a single history, for this only enfeebles 
the influence of the great principle involved, and distracts the 
mind and the feelings with too great a variety of subjects. In 
order to illustrate more completely the methods proposed, a 
class of children from the Agricultural School was generally 
brought in, and exercised in the manner proposed. 

History of the Christian Religion. — The great objects of this 
course were, to awaken a deeper and more general interest in 
the Christian religion, and to strengthen their faith in its 
irresistible power, by showing them how light and truth have 
ever gained the victory amidst all the oppression and persecu- 
tion they have endured. 

The progress of light was traced ; the earnest and useless 
groping after truth described, which preceded the coming of 
the Saviour, and was only satisfied by his instructions. The 
political and civil condition of the world at the Christian era, 
and the influence which Christianity has had in changing or 
modifying it, by the mutual and undistinguishing benevolence 
it requires between individuals and nations, and the equal rights 
which it thus establishes, was made the subject of particular 
attention. But the attention of the pupils was principally 
directed to the internal condition of the Christian church in the 
first three centuries, while it remained comparatively pure : 
they were pointed to the influence of Christian feelings and a 
Christian life in the family, the community, and the state ; to 
the invincible power of that faith, and that love to the Saviour 
and to one another, which triumphed over ridicule and suffering, 
and martyrdom itself, in its most horrid forms. The errors in 
principle and practice of this early period were also exhibited, 
with their sad consequences ; and the effects of the various 



APPENDIX. 355 

extremes to which they led — of slavish formality or lawless 
licentiousness •, of intolerance and of hypocrisy ; of superstition 
and fanaticism ; of ecclesiastical despotism, and of anarchy — were 
presented in such a light as to point out the dangers to which 
we are still exposed. The time did not allow the extension of 
the course to later periods of history. 

Principles and Precepts of Christianity. — The religious in- 
structor observes, that he endeavoured to present this part of 
his subject in its biblical form, and to show his pupils the 
inexhaustible richness of Divine wisdom exhibited in the Scrip- 
tures, to which reason, when duly enlightened as to its proper 
sphere, will come as a pupil, and not as a teacher. This 
revelation, he remarked, made in the language of men, should 
be the rule by which the exhibitions of the Deity, in nature, and 
providence, and the mind of man, must be judged. On the other 
hand, he presented the leading doctrines contained in the 
formularies of the Swiss churches, but still as subordinate to 
the biblical exhibition of truth with which the teacher in 
Switzerland is chiefly concerned. The first subjects of instruc- 
tion were the general nature of religion, the peculiar character 
of Christianity, and its adaptation to the nature of man, the 
admirable form in which it is presented, and the importance of 
taking the Saviour as a model for the methods of religious 
instruction. The Scriptures were next examined as the sources 
of religious truth, and the principal contents of the various 
books described, with the leading evidences of its historical 
authority, of its inspiration, and of the credibility of the princi- 
ples it contains. The leading doctrines maintained in the 
national church were then presented, each accompanied with 
the evidence and illustrations afforded by the Scriptures, and 
followed by an exhibition of the duties involved in it, or founded 
upon it. At the same time, illustrations were derived from 
nature and from the human heart ; and directions were given 
as to the best mode of teaching these truths to the young. 

Methods of Religious Instruction. — The method of giving 
religious instruction was also taken up in a special manner, at 
the conclusion of the course : the first object was to point out 
the manner and order in which the various principles and 
precepts of religion should be presented to the young in corre- 
spondence with the development of their faculties ; and the 
importance of preparing their minds to receive the truths, by 
making them familiar with the language, and the objects of 



356 APPENDIX. 

intellect and feeling in general, instead of calling upon them to 
pass at once from the observation and the language of the ma- 
terial world, to the elevated truths of religion expressed in terms 
entirely new, and which leave so many minds in hopeless con- 
fusion, if not in absolute ignorance of their real nature. The 
distinction of essential and non-essential doctrines was adverted 
to, and general directions given as to the methods of narrating 
and examining. 

Anthropology, or the Study of Man. — This course was in- 
tended to give a general idea of the nature of man, and 
especially of the construction of our bodies, with a view to 
illustrate at once their wonderful mechanism, and to direct to 
the proper mode of employing and treating their various organs. 
The teacher adopted as his leading principles, to exclude as 
much as possible all that has not practical importance, and to 
employ the most simple terms and illustrations which could be 
chosen. The first great division of the course was devoted to 
the structure of the human body : it was opened with a brief 
introduction to natural history, and a comparative view of 
vegetables and animals, and man, and of the several races of 
men. The elementary materials of the human frame were then 
described, and the great and wonderful changes they undergo in 
receiving the principle of life, and becoming a part of man. 

The various systems of the human body, the bones, muscles, 
vessels, organs, and nerves were next described, and illustrated 
by a human skeleton and by preparations of animals : the 
offices of each part were described in connection with its form 
and situation : thus uniting anatomy and physiology. At the 
same time, reference was made to the mode of employing 
them ; the common accidents to which they were liable, as dis- 
locations, fractures, &c, and the mode of guarding against them. 
The second portion of the course was devoted to the subject of 
Hygiene, or Dietetics ; the proper mode of employing and 
treating the various organs, in order to preserve health and 
strength. It was opened with some views of the nature and 
value of health, and the causes which most frequently undermine 
it. The first object of attention was the organs of reproduction, 
their important destination, their delicate nature, and the evil 
consequence of too early excitement, or abuse on the rest of 
the system ; with the indications of abuse, and the methods of 
restoration. The nervous system, in its connection with the 
subject, led to the consideration of spiritual life, and its con- 



APPENDIX. 357 

nection with the body, through the medium of the nerves. 
The various passions and affections were particularly described, 
with their influence upon the health ; and the rules of education 
derived from this topic. Sleeping and waking were then treated 
as phenomena of the nervous system ; and the distinction to be 
observed between children and adults on this subject was pointed 
out. The importance of attending to the structure and use of 
the bed-room and the bed, and even the position in sleep, was 
also adverted to. 

The organs of sense, especially the eye and the ear, were 
minutely described, with the diseases to which they are liable 
from improper use or neglect, or from causes injurious to the 
brain and nervous system in general. The importance of the 
skin and its functions, and of maintaining its cleanliness by 
frequent changes of clothing and bathing ; the necessity and 
methods of useful exercise ; the precautions which ought to be 
employed to secure the purity of the air, especially in schools, 
and to guard against diseases of the organs of respiration, were 
the subjects of particular instruction. The formation and uses 
of the blood, the influence of food, and the circumstances in its 
condition or preparation which render it injurious, the evil 
effects of alcoholic drinks, and the most obvious causes of 
injury to the digestive organs, or of interruption in their func- 
tions, were afterwards discussed in a practical manner. The 
course was closed with simple directions as to the treatment 
of injuries produced by sudden accidents, falls, wounds, drown- 
ing, freezing, fits, &c. during the time which must elapse 
before medical "aid can be procured, or when it is not within 
reach — a species of knowledge for want of which many a life 
has doubtless been lost, and which is peculiarly important to 
one who is entrusted with the care of a large number of young 
persons. Indeed, what more valuable gift could be made to a 
collection of American teachers than such a course of in- 
struction ; a course which every well informed physician is 
capable of giving. 

Geography. — The course of instruction in geography was 
designed to point out the best methods of teaching facts already 
familiar to the audience. Two principles were laid down as 
fundamental : — 1. To commence with giving the pupil distinct 
ideas of hill, valley, plain, stream, and lake in his own circle, 
and the characteristics of his own neighbourhood ; and thus to 
become familiar with the elements, and to proceed from par- 



358 APPENDIX. 

ticular to general views. 2. That the geography of their 
native country should be made familiar to the pupils of the 
common school, before they are confused or attracted by the 
peculiarities and wonders of foreign countries. A course of 
instruction was described for the canton of Berne in conformity 
with these principles, and the necessary references given to the 
authorities from which the teacher should derive his inform- 
ation. As a part of the course, each teacher was required to 
write an account of the place of his residence ; and was taught 
how he should direct his pupils in the observations and inquiries 
necessary for this purpose, and fitted to develop the habits of 
quick and accurate perception and patient research. 

History of Switzerland. — It was assumed as a principle, that 
history should not be taught as a whole in common schools ; 
because young minds are incapable of understanding the causes 
and connection of events which involve the ideas, and plans, 
and motives of warriors and statesmen. On the other hand, it 
was deemed of great importance to present the leading events of 
history to the young, in order to impress the moral lessons which 
they furnish, and especially those which belong to their own 
country. To the teachers, however, it was considered necessary 
to give a complete view of the history of Switzerland, in order 
to enable them to select and explain better its individual portions. 
It was accordingly narrated, so far as the time would admit, 
in several great divisions : the primitive period, the Roman 
period, and the period of transition, introduced the Swiss con- 
federation ; the heroic or warlike period, the period of political 
decline, and the period of revolution (since 1798), embraced 
the history of the confederation. This view of the course will 
be sufficient to show the general principles oh which the method 
of instruction in this subject is founded. 

Agriculture. — A course of lectures on agriculture was given 
to the assembled teachers by Fellenberg himself. The audience 
were reminded of that wise Omnipotence which presides over 
the circle of human activity, and of the manner in which it 
operates incessantly to prepare man for his higher destination, 
by rendering all his efforts dependent on this parental guidance 
for their success ; and by leading him through all the variety 
of events in the material world, to that higher moral existence 
for which we are made. The lecturer pointed out the wisdom 
of this arrangement, and the defects which would exist in our 
education, as men, without these external means. He stated that 



APPENDIX. 359 

he had assumed it as a part of his task to illustrate, by the 
evidence of facts, in a rational system of agriculture, that man 
is called upon to become like God — in governing himself, and 
in controlling the material world, for the good of his fellow-men ; 
and that he observed constantly more and more the powerful 
influence of well conducted plans of agriculture exerted in 
counteracting the spirit of indolence and habits of idleness. 
The first subject illustrated, was the power which a knowledge 
of the great principles of agriculture confers over the operations 
of nature, by giving a suitable direction to the cares and labours 
of its possessor ; and the wretched slavery of the ignorant to the 
mere changes of matter, and to those effects of the elements 
which the Creator gives us the capacity in some measure to 
employ for our own benefit. He next considered the best mode 
of rendering agriculture a means of exciting mental activity 
in the children and parents of a village, and of forming their 
character. Many sources of poverty and suffering in Switzer- 
land were pointed out, which arose from the neglect of this 
subject, and the intimate connection between the improvement 
of agriculture, and the increase of intelligence and comfort of 
those who are engaged in it, with the prosperity and the free 
institutions of the country. Various leading principles of agri- 
culture were then taken up ; such as the removal of all the 
obstacles to vegetation — stones, weeds, excessive water, &c. ; 
the rational preparation and use of manure ; the proper form 
and employment of the plough ; and the succession of crops. 
The influence of these principles, and of the knowledge of the 
elements that compose the materials employed in cultivating 
the earth, on the products and the facility of labour, were clearly 
exhibited, and were illustrated by a reference to the improved 
fields and increased products of Hofwyl. In short, the great 
object of this course was, not to teach the science, but to give 
such general views as should lead the teachers to appreciate 
and inculcate its importance, to observe and reflect on the pre- 
vailing evils and their remedies, and to excite their pupils to 
observation, as a means of rendering their very labours a source 
of intellectual and moral improvement. 

A brief course of instruction was also given by Fellenberg, 
on the constitution of the canton, and the rights and duties of citizens. 
It would, of course, be out of place to enter into the details of 
the Berne constitution ; but we cannot give a correct view of 



360 APPENDIX. 

the spirit of this course of instruction without describing the 
peculiar manner in which he introduced it. 

He observed, that the merely material interest of civil and 
political life form a foundation too sandy and unstable for the 
life of the family or the state. A constitution truly free, and 
fitted to promote the higher moral ends of our existence, can 
find no firmer basis, no more noble and appropriate means, no 
higher ends, than in the message of " peace on earth, and good 
will to men," which was brought by our Saviour. No book 
of freedom can better satisfy its true friends than the Bible, with 
its evangelical complement, if its instructions and its objects are 
rightly understood. Since I have sought here the sources and 
objects of a constitution, I have felt a higher value than ever 
for the Scriptures. The constitution presents the good of all 
as the great object ; and this is the end of the Divine govern- 
ment. It calls upon each citizen to live and die for others — 
the object of our Saviour's instructions and example. The 
Creator makes no distinction in the birth and death of men ; 
and the constitution only follows his example in giving equal 
rights to all. The Saviour teaches us to regard our fellow-men 
as members of the same family ; the constitution simply enforces 
and carries out this principle. It acknowledges that " the 
welfare or misery of a state depends on the moral and intel- 
lectual cultivation of its citizens, and that their sound education 
is among its first duties, and thus admits the great principle of 
the Gospel in relation to the affairs of this world." Such is the 
spirit which Fellenberg wishes to pervade every course of in- 
struction. 

Berne Society of Teachers. 

Among other evidences of the continued and active influence 
of Hofwyl in the cause of education, we have recently received 
a file of a gazette for teachers, issued by its indefatigable guar- 
dians. It is intended as the organ of communication for the 
friends of school improvements in the canton of Berne. Several 
of its numbers are devoted to the proceedings of the Cantonal 
Society of Teachers, whose efforts seem to promise much for the 
cause in Switzerland. 

This society was formed by the teachers assembled for in- 
struction nt Hofwyl in the summer of 1832, and consisted of 
154 members, with few exceptions, teachers of ordinary schools. 
Fellenberg was chosen president ; and Wehrli, the excellent 



APPENDIX. 



361 



teacher of the farm pupils of Hofwyl, vice-president. Its con- 
stitution presents, as the great objects of the society, union and 
co-operation in promoting the education of the people, and ele- 
vating the character of the schools. The means proposed 
were, free communications between its members, consultations 
concerning the best modes of advancing the cause of schools 
and improving the condition of teachers, and direct efforts to 
excite the attention of the people to the defects of present plans 
and methods of organising and instructing the common schools 
of the country. The last object seems to us highly important, 
and too much neglected among us. May we not derive an im- 
portant hint in regard to our own duties ? No great object has 
yet been effected, until a class of men, more or less numerous, 
have devoted themselves to it ; and so busy is every one in our 
country, that none are disposed to assume a task which does not 
necessarily devolve upon them ; or even to attend to a subject 
which is not directly connected with their business. The 
modesty and the isolation of teachers, the fear of being charged 
with interested motives, and too often, we are sorry to say, 
indifference to the object itself, have led those who were en- 
gaged in education to neglect all direct effort to excite the 
interest of others. But if we hope for the promotion of im- 
provement in education, from whence must we expect it, unless 
from those directly concerned, and most able to speak and 
write on the subject ? Why does it not belong to teachers to 
speak, and write, and act upon society, in reference to education, 
as much as upon clergymen to exert their influence on the sub- 
ject of theology ? How much would it elevate the character of 
the profession, how much would it do to excite interest in the 
subject, if the army of teachers in New England would come 
forth from their school-houses, and unite in enlightened efforts 
to spread just principles, in reference to the importance and the 
methods of education, among those around them. 

Among the important topics in the school itself which are 
proposed by the Society of Berne, to be presented in the meet- 
ings of its auxiliary societies, the first named is a careful in- 
quiry into the condition of the pupils of their schools, and the 
proper means for their moral improvement. For this purpose 
they urge that every effort be made to give the pupils constant 
employment, and to guard them against the temptations of idle- 
ness ; to preserve a mild but firm course of discipline ; and to 
promote fraternal affection among them. They urge, that every 

R 



362 APPENDIX. 

branch of instruction, from the highest to the lowest, he dis- 
cussed at these meetings ; and that there should be a steady- 
effort among the teachers to advance in knowledge and skill. 
Would that the last object could be impressed upon the minds 
of the multitude of teachers in our country, who wrap themselves 
up in the consciousness of having attained the ne plus ultra of 
skill and knowledge, or lie down in listless apathy, after their 
daily task is performed, with no anxiety but to " get through " 
the business of to-morrow as early as possible. 

The second meeting of the Berne Society of Teachers was 
also held at Hofwyl. It was opened by an interesting address 
from the president, full of truth and energy, of which we can 
only give a few opening sentences : — 

" Guardians of the spiritual life, the personal wealth, of the 
children of our people ! we have assembled to ratify our bond. 
We have pledged ourselves that in our schools shall grow up 
a noble, well-taught generation of the people ; true to the prin- 
ciples of the Gospel, devoted to God, and faithful to men ; a 
people whose characters shall not be unworthy of the scenes of 
grandeur and beauty which the Creator has assigned as their 
native land ! " 

" In this great object we shall succeed only so far as we fol- 
low the Saviour's example, and imbibe the fulness of his love to 
man, and trust in God, in forming the hearts of those who are 
committed to us, in extending the influence of the school to 
every household, and in warming the hearts of parents as well 
as children. God will reward such labours, even if they are not 
rewarded on earth. The God who feeds the ravens and clothes 
the lilies, will never forsake the faithful guardians of his 
children." 

Among the evils suggested at this meeting of the society, as 
requiring a remedy, were some familiar to our own schools : — 
the waDt of faithful visitation, for which responsible and paid 
officers were considered the only remedy ; neglect and diffi- 
culties in obtaining suitable teachers ; imperfect school-books 
and means of instruction ; the want of a periodical for teachers ; 
the unhappy difficulties arising from the dependence of the 
teacher on the caprice or convenience of individuals for his 
scanty pay, and claims of parental dictation often founded upon 
it. One serious evil, not found among us, is the duty im- 
posed upon teachers of attending funerals, and performing to 
some extent the weekly as well as Sunday duties of clerk of the 
parish. 



APPENDIX. 363 

After the meeting was closed, the hand of music of the farm 
pupils of Hofwyl called the assembly to a repast prepared for 
360 persons hy the liberal founder of Hofwyl. It was opened 
by him with prayer, acknowledging the favour of God to their 
association, and entreating His blessing upon their future efforts. 
A scene of social enjoyment and familiar intercourse then fol- 
lowed, suited to cheer the hearts of these fellow-labourers in an 
arduous and too often thankless office. Occasional songs, of 
that elevated and heart-stirring character which we have formerly 
described, were sung by the farm pupils, and united in by the 
chorus of teachers ; and toasts were drank, in the common wine 
of Switzerland, a liquor of less strength than the cider of our 
country. While we trust that the progress of the principles of 
temperance will speedily satisfy the friends of morals that social 
drinking, and the useless if not censurable practice of toasts, 
are but the handmaids of intemperance to many who might 
otherwise have been sober, we translate one sentiment given 
by a teacher, as a specimen of those offered on this occasion. 

" There is one means of making the happiness, and the de- 
light, which we feel to day, universal ! There is one unfailing 
means to convert ruined families into families of joy — to dry 
up the sources of poverty and misery — and to stem the torrent 
of overwhelming vice — to secure our liberties, and those of our 
children, against all the power of treachery, — in short, to secure 
the purity and the happiness of the people. And this unfailing 
means is, Christian rational education of the people, and 
especially of the poor. To all, tlien, who understand this mighty 
cry, and put their hands to the holy work, Long life ! Health 
to all the friends and promoters of rational education of the people, 
and the poor — far and near ! Long life to them ! " 

Such animating sentiments were followed and impressed hy 
some of the noble " mannenchoren," or hymns for male voices, 
which the Swiss music furnishes to cherish social, and bene- 
volent, and patriotic, and devotional feeling, in place of the 
hacchanalian and amatory songs which so often disgrace our 
social meetings. 

During the summer of 1833, a course of instruction was 
given to teachers, under the immediate direction of Fellenberg. 
It was closed by an examination, at which a considerable num- 
ber of persons were present; and the Cantonal Society of 
Teachers held its third meeting immediately after. It was at- 
tended by 200 teachers and friends of education, or school-men, 
r 2 



364< APPENDIX. 

as they are all styled in simple German, many of -whom were 
new members. 

The time was occupied chiefly in business measures, relative 
to the organisation of the society and its branches. A petition 
was offered, signed by many teachers, soliciting the government 
to remove the obstacle thrown in the way of attending the 
summer course of instruction for teachers at Hofwyl, of whose 
value they speak in the highest terms. This was adopted 
unanimously by the society, and ordered to be urged upon the 
attention of the public authorities. 

Several communications were presented, on the defects of the 
course of 1 832, under the direction of a principal appointed by the 
government. One of these, signed by fifty-nine teachers, testifies 
that, while the previous course had been grossly defective, the 
course pursued under the direction of Fellenberg had met their 
wants entirely ; and that it was entirely unjust to ascribe to 
Hofwyl, and to its founder, difficulties which originated in the 
incompetency of the director appointed by the government. 
Indeed, we find much evidence that this was another illustration 
of the danger of committing to political men the management 
of literary institutions ; and we have abundant reason to know 
that the determined hostility of the Bernese aristocracy to the 
plan for the education of the people which Fellenberg has pur- 
sued for thirty years with so much ardour, is sufficient to account 
for the new course of petty persecution to which he has been 
exposed. We trust, nay we are persuaded, that his zeal and 
faith, and that of his son, who now so ably co-operates with him, 
will not yield to clamour, or be subdued by opposition. 

It was announced to the assembly that another course of 
instruction would be given to teachers at Hofwyl, to commence 
in May of the present year, and continue until August ; and the 
next meeting of the society was appointed to be held at that 
time. We trust that a large body of teachers are now wit- 
nessing scenes, and enjoying privileges, which cannot fail to 
exert a most salutary influence on them and on their schools. 
Would that we could witness such a movement in any consider- 
able portion of our own country. Could we see some indi- 
vidual who had the faith to invite, and the influence necessary 
to collect such a body of teachers to listen to instruction, and 
consult for the good of their schools, for three months, in any 
State in the Union, we should expect more benefit to the cause 
of education than from any amount of school funds ; for, im- 



APPENDIX. 365 

portant as they are, under proper regulation, they can never 
supply the place of an intelligent and well-trained body of 
teachers. 

June, 1834. 

Hofwyl, Jan. 2. 1836. 

The week past has been a vacation for the pupils of the 
Scientific Institution here, so far that the ordinary recitations 
have ceased, and that the pupils have been allowed to devote 
half of each day to amusement. Much of this time has been 
spent in preparing themselves for two dramatic representations, 
and two evenings of amusement, with various costumes and 
machinery for exhibiting scenes out of the ordinary course of 
life. The year has usually been closed by an interview between 
two personages representing the old and the new year ; each of 
whom makes an address appropriate to his character, intended 
to produee a good influence ; sometimes admirable, but some- 
times failing, from the defects of execution which are incident 
to all human plans. The course which is adopted is chiefly 
from the necessity imposed by universal custom, which so . 
irrationally spends the most precious moments of the year in 
frivolous occupations. It is also an occasion for giving that 
experience which prepares them to meet such scenes in the 
world. But still, its utility admits of debate, at least. 

I was most interested in a scene in the intermediate or prac- 
tical school, the last evening, after their customary feast, such 
as I described in the " Annals." It had not been thought of till 
the day, and of course the representation was in some points de- 
fective. Yet so diligent and earnest were the boys, and their 
new teacher (a worthy successor, I trust, of Wehrli, who is 
transferred to the head of a teacher's seminary), that twenty-four 
boys presented themselves, each arrayed in the costume and 
carrying the banner of one of the cantons of Switzerland. In 
the midst of the circle appeared one of the most interesting 
boys arrayed in white, as the genius of Helvetia, and demanded 
" Where is our country ? Where are the Swiss ? Who will be 
again like our own ancient Switzerland ? — one for all — all for 
one ! " The representatives of the cantons came in their turns, 
and gave a statement of the condition, and hopes, and faults, 
and wishes of his own canton, and concluded with declaring his 
allegiance to the genius of Helvetia. The genius then declared 
his joy and hope, that there would be again a Switzerland, and 
again a Swiss nation and in token of this national character ; he 
k 3 



366 APPENDIX. 

unfurled a banner with the white Swiss cross in its centre, 
surrounded by a representation of each distinct standard, and 
demanded that all their separate standards should be united in 
this. The representatives lowered their banners when they 
saw this waving, and all with one accord gathered arotvnd 
the genius, and placed them in his arms. He proclaimed 
" Union and strength," and bore them off in triumph, followed 
by all his adherents. The effect on me was electric. "Would 
that we could see such a scene in our schools. Would that the 
spirit which it shadowed forth might pervade our own beloved 
country. 

w. c. w. 

Intermediate or Practical Institution of Hofwyl. 

Hofwyl, April, 1836. 

The semi- annual examinations of the Institutions here have 
recently closed, and the new arrangement of hours and classes 
for the season has been made. I have formerly described very 
fully the Scientific Institution. Since my last visit here, the 
Intermediate or Practical School has been more fully organised, 
and deserves a more particular description than I have given. 

In the prospectus of the school, Fellenberg observes, that in 
commencement of his enterprise, thirty-six years since, and 
amidst all the labours and difficulties which have attended his 
progress, the unchanging object of his thoughts and wishes has 
been the improvement of his native country. He remarks that 
Pestalozzi and other high-minded Swiss, perceived before him, 
and with him, that the regeneration of their native land could 
not be secured merely by changing the forms of government, — 
that it must be accomplished, if at all, by the intellectual and 
moral -vigour of the nation, and that the only means is a sound 
and well-regulated national education. To this object the 
founder of Hofwyl has consecrated his life and his fortune. His 
views have been misunderstood, and his motives misrepresented 
at home, in a manner which has compelled him to seek aid and 
support from abroad ; but in all the variety of his efforts, he 
observes, he has never lost sight of this great end. 

It is his opinion that in a country like Switzerland, which 
contains the same number of inhabitants with our larger States, 
and is yet divided into twenty -two portions, each of which as- 
sumes the character, and in some degree the prejudices, of an 
independent nation, a deep national feeling cannot be cultivated 



Appendix. 367 

more effectually by any means than by the establishment of 
general institutions for education, in which the youth may 
imbibe the principles and feelings of patriotism, instead of 
the narrow spirit of a canton. The importance of a single 
university for this object is generally admitted, but sectional 
jealousy has forbidden its establishment. Fellenberg has hoped 
to contribute to the same object by rendering Hofwyl a point of 
union for the Switzerland, and preparing for them an institution 
conducted upon sound religious and patriotic principles, and 
entirely independent of the caprices of diplomacy and the 
jealousies of sections or parties. 

Such were the views which led to the establishment of the 
Intermediate or Practical Institution. The course of the In- 
stitution embraces all the branches taught in the Scientific Insti- 
tution which are important to those who are not destined to the 
learned professions, excluding only the ancient languages and 
the more extensive courses of history and science. It is de- 
signed for the children of the middle classes of Switzerland, — 
of farmers, men of business, mechanics, professional men, and 
persons in public employ, whose means do not allow them to 
furnish their children an education of accomplishments, and 
who do not wish to have them estranged from the simplicity of 
the paternal mansion and of their native village by the com- 
parative luxury which is necessary in the Scientific Institution 
in order to meet the artificial wants and habits of the children 
of the wealthy and the noble. In view of these circumstances, 
the buildings, the furniture, the table, and the dress of the pupils 
are arranged in correspondence to the habits of the middle classes 
of German Switzerland, — habits incomparably more simple and 
economical than those of the middle classes among us, and in 
some respects, it seems to me, approaching too nearly to the 
rudeness of former days. In this way the pupils receive an 
education far more useful and solid than most of the youth of 
our country, at a very moderate price, without incurring the 
danger of acquiring tastes and habits which will render them 
disgusted with the society in which Providence calls upon them 
to pass their lives. The rapid increase of this school, which 
now contains more than a hundred pupils, and the feelings of 
some parents in easy circumstances, who consider it a safer and 
more useful place of education for their children than the Sci- 
entific Institution, where they come in contact with the corrup- 
tions imbibed by the children of the fashionable classes in foreign 



368 APPENDIX. 

countries, seem to indicate that this plan has been -well-arranged 
to meet the wants of the community. 

The branches of instruction indicated in the prospectus are 
the following : — Religion, commencing with Bible history, and 
terminating with the doctrines of Christianity, which are taught 
to each pupil by a clergyman of his own denomination ; the 
German and French languages ; Arithmetic ; Geometry ; Natural 
History and Natural Philosophy, Geography (especially of 
Switzerland) ; Universal and National History ; Geometrical and 
Perspective Drawing ; Writing ; Vocal Music, in practice and 
theory ; Gymnastics ; and for those whose parents desire it, 
instruction in Carpentry and various kinds of work on wood. In 
the languages and arithmetic a lesson is generally given every 
day ; in each of the other branches, two or three times a week. 

As this Institution is designed to take the place of the family 
in educating as well as in instructing the pupils, those branches 
which are especially useful in forming the character and culti- 
vating the heart, in elevating their minds above the material 
interests of life, to its highest object, receive the most particular 
attention ; and history, geography, and natural history, as 
well as religion, furnish important means for operating on the 
character and the heart. But the great means of accomplishing 
the object is by well-regulated habits of industry and activity, 
both of body and mind. Two hours daily are devoted to bodily 
exercise, a part of which is spent in manual labour, which will 
preserve one portion of the simple habits of their childhood, and 
a part to gymnastic exercises, which are so important in order 
to give activity and strength to every part of the body. Military 
exercises sometimes take the place of gymnastics, and in the 
summer season, bathing and swimming. The useless and per- 
nicious amusements of a city life are of course excluded, and 
constant employment leaves no room for idleness or the reading 
of useless books ; in short, the great object is to form the young 
men to be Christians and patriots, and to give them a sound mind 
and a sound body. 

Among the most important means of moral and religious im- 
provement are the religious services of the morning and evening 
assembly. The principal instructor reviews the events and con- 
duct of the day, and endeavours to derive instruction from it for 
the future. A special religious service is held on Sunday for all 
the pupils of the Institution, by its chaplain. 

In the hours devoted to labour, the pupils are employed in 



APPENDIX. 369 

part in the house, and in part in the field, in the various occu- 
pations which are most likely to be useful in their family life. 
With a view of cultivating habits of order and punctuality, as 
well as to promote that spirit of brotherly affection which shall 
lead each to think of all, and all to seek the welfare of each one, 
they perform in turn a variety of little household offices, such as 
preserving the order and cleanliness of rooms, and passages, and 
play-grounds, taking care of the books and tools which they em- 
ploy, keeping an account of injuries, &c. The most important 
of these little offices are filled by the ballots of the pupils. 

As an additional means of cultivating feeling, the younger and 
more ignorant or feeble pupils are committed to the care of those 
who are older and more experienced, who are expected to per- 
form the office of elder brothers, in watching over their personal 
and moral habits. Where the parents desire it, each pupil is 
furnished with a little garden, which he is taught to cultivate, 
and whose products he is allowed to dispose of. 

The recent examination of this school furnishes ample evi- 
dence of the utility of the course pursued. The pupils exhibited 
a familiarity with the various subjects of instruction which 
proved that they had not been merely impressed on the memory, 
but rendered clear and almost visible to the mind. A few ex- 
amples which I witnessed will best illustrate my meaning. 

In the examination of a class of boys from twelve to fifteen 
years of age, on the subject of geometry, a boy was called to the 
black board to describe and explain the method of ascertaining 
the superficial contents of a triangle. He drew a right-angled 
triangle, and then a parallelogram, on the same base and of the 
same height. He then proceeded to show that the surface of the 
triangle was half the surface of the parallelogram, and conse- 
quently that the base multiplied by half the height produced the 
contents of the triangle. A second boy illustrated the same 
principle with an oblique-angled triangle, with a familiarity 
which is often wanting in the students of our colleges. 

A third pupil was called upon to explain the mode of ascer- 
taining the contents of a, circle. He drew a circle, and divided 
it into triangles by lines drawn from the centre to the circum- 
ference. He then proeeeded to show, that as the contents of 
each triangle could be ascertained by multiplying the radius, or 
half the diameter of the circle by half the base of the triangle, 
so the contents of all the triangles, or of the circle itself, could 
be determined by multiplying the radius by half the circum- 



370 APPENDIX. 

ference, which forms the hase of all the triangles. A fourth 
pupil illustrated the same principle by representing the circle as 
broken, or rolled out, into an equal number of triangles, upon a 
single straight line, equal in length to the circumference of the 
circle. 

Other pupils were called up in succession, who described and 
demonstrated the method of calculating the surface of a cube, 
a pyramid, and a cone ; and subsequently the solid contents of 
each of these forms, with more familiarity than most of the 
boys of our schools would explain a process in arithmetic. 
Indeed, this examination furnished ample evidence, not only of 
the progress of the pupils, but of the practicability of rendering 
boys of this age familiar with the elements of geometry by 
pursuing a simple method of instruction. 

A similar class of boys was examined on the refraction and 
reflection of light, as a part of their course of instruction in 
natural philosophy. They were first called upon to explain the 
crooked appearance of a stick in the water, and the deception 
in the apparent position of a fish in a stream ; and assigned as 
the cause the direction of the refracted rays in passing from a 
denser to a rarer medium. One of the pupils was then required 
to describe on the black board the manner in which a piece of 
chalk placed at the bottom of a vessel, so as to be concealed 
by its side, will become visible when water is poured upon it. 
Another showed the influence of this principle on the appear- 
ance of the sun before the true time of rising, or after the true 
time of setting. A third illustrated in the same manner the 
parhelia, or the appearance of two or three suns. In short, this 
and other principles taught, had been rendered tangible as well 
as useful, by giving them immediately a practical application ; 
and the answers were given by the pupils with the same 
simplicity as if they had been asked the most common question, 
without any apparent consciousness that they were talking of 
philosophy. I conld not but sigh to think how many of our 
pupils are contented with the name and the words of a science, 
of whose real principles and applications they are utterly 
ignorant. Indeed, I have been peculiarly struck with the in- 
fluence of the simple methods of instruction adopted here on 
the feelings of the pupils. 

Receiving one simple truth after another, in an order per- 
fectly natural, they never imagine that they have any remark- 
able superiority of knowledge to others. Not pretending to be 



APPENDIX. 371 

superior, they feel little comparative anxiety about the opinion 
of their auditors ; and accustomed to familiar and colloquial 
instruction, and to indulgent explanations of their errors, and 
conscious of their desire to learn, they say what they think 
with a corresponding familiarity and fearlessness, and receive 
the correction of an error without any mortification, if it be not 
the result of their own thoughtlessness or forgetfulness. 

Some of the elder pupils, who form the normal branch of the 
school, and are preparing to become teachers, were examined 
on one of the most brilliant events in Swiss history — the war 
with Charles the Bold of Burgundy. In the battles of Granson 
and Morat, one of the most warlike and powerful princes of 
Europe was twice defeated, and put to flight, by a Swiss army of 
one third the force of his own, with immense loss, both of men 
and treasure. But in place of dwelling on these brilliant 
achievements, the teacher passed slightly over them, and called 
upon his pupils to explain the real causes or origin of the war, 
as they existed in the previous state of Switzerland — the partial 
corruption of its simplicity, the ambition of conquest, hostility 
against its neighbours, and the influence of foreign emissaries 
and foreign gold, — and then its immediate occasion. Instead of 
calling them to think and speak of the imperishable glory which 
these victories threw around the Swiss arms, he led them to 
consider the influence which they had in rendering the people 
more restless, and ambitious, and luxurious, and thus sapping the 
foundation of national safety and prosperity, — and to reflect on 
the lessons this ought to furnish for the future. 

You will perceive from these sketches the general spirit 
which pervades the Intermediate School of Hofwyl ; and, I think, 
will agree with me, that it promises to do more for its pupils 
than many an institution with a more high-sounding name. 
Would that we could see many counterparts in our own country. 
Some, I trust, exist. 

As it is becoming more common to send American youth 
abroad for education, I ought to add, for those who regard the 
Sabbath as a day of sacred rest, that, on the continent of Europe, 
the afternoon is generally considered as a period of festivity. In 
this Institution, the prevailing opinion is so far opposed, that 
the pupils are retained at home until the afternoon service is 
closed, and required to avoid every thing that can disturb 
others, but are allowed to spend the rest of the day in walks, 
active games, and amusements. This restriction is a subject 



372 YPPENDIX. 

of congratulation : but it seems to me far more consistent, even 
with the sound principles of education, to regard this day as the 
privileged day of the soul, consecrated to the study of its character 
and destiny. If six days may reasonably be devoted chiefly to 
our preparation for this short life, surely the seventh may with 
equal reason be claimed as a day of special and immediate pre- 
paration for an endless state of existence hereafter. Let me not 
be understood to mean that to perform aright the duties of this 
life is not an essential part of preparation for the future life ; 
just as the study of the sciences is important to the future 
career of a youth. But he would be reproached with gross 
negligence, who should not devote special attention to the 
sphere of action for which he is destined, or to inquiries con- 
cerning a distant country in which he is to pass a greater part 
of his life. It is due to this Institution to add, that I have 
found here more effort, and more success, in animating the 
daily life of the pupils with the spirit of Christianity, than in 
most others where the tone of religious instruction and habits is 
more in accordance with my own views. How difficult is it to 
avoid all extremes — to secure all points, in this most delicate 
of all tasks — the education of a being destined to two different 
states of existence ! How presumptuous are many that under- 
take the task, almost without thought ! 



Printed by A. Spottiswoode, 
New. Street. Square. 



U$:> 



